Guest Seminar - Genetically Encoded Materials: Proteins and Beyond
Information-rich molecules provide opportunities for evolution. Genetically encoded materials (GEMs) are superior in that their properties are coded within genetic sequences and could be fine-tuned via evolution. In this talk, I will discuss this idea using examples ranging from engineered protein materials to engineered living materials. Protein-based materials are the materials of choice by Nature. Recent progress in protein engineering has led to opportunities to tune their sequences for optimal material performance. Specifically, I will present two examples, one using supercharged SpyCatcher as a versatile moonlighting protein for a variety of materials and the other using P zipper association as a way to fine tune the viscoelastic properties of protein hydrogels for regulating the embryonic stem cell growth. Proteins also play a central role in living materials where they act in concert with other biological components as well as nonbiological cofactors, giving rise to living features. While the existing GEMs are often limited to those constructed by building blocks of biological origin, the concept does not preclude nonbiologic or synthetic materials, the latter of which have yet to be fully explored.
Wen-Bin Zhang is currently a professor at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Peking University. He received his BS from Peking University in 2004 and his PhD in Polymer Science from the University of Akron in 2010. He continued there as a postdoc for one year, before moving to Caltech for a second postdoc. He started his independent career at Peking University in 2013 and was promoted to a tenured associate professor in 2019 and to a full professor with tenure in 2020. The theme of his research in the past decade has been on precision macromolecules. His goal is to integrate the design principles and building blocks of both synthetic and biological polymers for the development of precision macromolecules with unique functions for health-related applications. To date, he has published 150 peer-reviewed papers in Science, PNAS, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem., Macromolecules, ACS Macro Lett. etc. He received the “Distinguished Lectureship Award” from the Chemical Society of Japan in 2017, the Distinguished Young Scholars Award from the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2019, and the Bayer Investigator Award in 2021. He also serves as the committee member for the Division of Supramolecular Chemistry of Chinese Chemical Society and the editorial board member for ACS Macro Lett., Chin. J. Chem., Polymer, Chin. Chem. Lett., React. Funct. Polym., Sci. China Chem., Supramol. Mater., Chin. J. Polym. Sci., Smart Mol., and Giant.