Anthony C. Forster

Anthony C. Forster
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
Uppsala University, Sweden
SEMINAR
May, 11th
14.30 – Room A206
Faculty of Science
Via Sommarive, 5
Povo, Trento
Applications of Protein Synthesis in Synthetic
Biology and Drug Discovery
We have developed a simplified, purified, bacterial translation system to facilitate studies of
substrate recognition in protein synthesis and enable new applications. One application is
directed evolution in vitro of small-molecule, peptidomimetic drug candidates by redesigning
the genetic code for the synthesis and display of polymers containing unnatural amino acids
(Forster et al. 2003, 2004). This technology was recently commercialized by two start-up
biotech companies (Ra Pharmaceuticals Inc. and PeptiDream Inc.). Another application is
construction of scalable, purified, in vitro translation systems. This is proceeding by “BioBrick”
construction in E. coli using orthogonal replication, promoter and terminator parts (Du et al.
2011). A long-term goal is achieving better understanding and manipulation of biological
replication by reconstituting it completely in vitro. Of the 151 genes postulated to be necessary
for self-replication from small molecules (synthetic life), protein synthesis constitutes 96%
(Forster and Church, 2006).
CIBIO
Via delle Regole, 101
Mattarello – Trento
Tel. 0461 282742
[email protected]