Biotechnology seminars

David Baker presents recent advances in designing proteins for functions that natural evolution has not been required to solve. The approach begins with a desired structure or activity and uses deep learning to propose amino acid sequences expected to realise it. The resulting designs are translated into synthetic genes, produced as proteins and tested experimentally. The lecture connects computational design with laboratory characterisation, explaining how the combination can create new molecular functions relevant to medicine, technology and sustainability. Its focus is the construction and evaluation of proteins from scratch, extending the protein-design research recognised by the 2024 chemistry prize.

Shimon Sakaguchi, Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell explain how peripheral immune tolerance prevents the immune system from attacking the body. Sakaguchi follows the identification of regulatory T cells, the CD25 marker, and the relationship between central tolerance and active suppression of self-reactive cells. He considers how changing regulatory T-cell activity could support cancer treatment and transplantation. Brunkow describes genetic investigation of scurfy mice, identification of FOXP3, and the connection between mutations in this gene and human IPEX syndrome. The work establishes a molecular basis for the development and function of regulatory T cells. Ramsdell traces the move from these basic discoveries toward therapeutic strategies, including engineering a patient’s regulatory T cells to target inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. He discusses early clinical investigation and the ambition of restoring immune balance; these approaches are presented as developing treatments rather than established cures.

Stephen Quake describes how circulating cell-free nucleic acids became a basis for non-invasive diagnostics. Combining genome knowledge with high-throughput sequencing made liquid biopsies useful in pregnancy, transplantation, infection and cancer. The lecture follows the development of blood-based tests that can replace some invasive tissue-sampling procedures.

Virginijus Šikšnys traces genome-editing tools to bacterial antiviral defence. Programmable CRISPR-Cas nucleases offer powerful ways to alter DNA, but delivery, unintended effects, immune interactions and insertion efficiency remain challenges. The lecture discusses compact TnpB nucleases and how further study of defence systems may reveal useful enzymatic functions.

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper examine two complementary computational problems: designing proteins with desired properties and predicting the structures adopted by natural amino acid sequences. Baker describes the development of methods for creating new protein structures and functions. Hassabis discusses the use of artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery, while Jumper explains the integration of chemical and biological reasoning into protein-structure prediction. The programme connects sequence, three-dimensional structure and function, and shows how computational approaches changed what researchers can attempt in protein science. It preserves the distinction between de novo design and prediction while explaining why advances in both can support biological understanding and the creation of useful molecules.

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman explain the scientific development of messenger RNA as a therapeutic platform. Their lectures address why laboratory-produced RNA can trigger inflammatory responses and how modification of its nucleosides changes immune recognition and improves protein production. The programme connects those molecular findings with the practical challenges of making RNA stable and delivering it into cells, including lipid-nanoparticle formulations. It follows the development of modified mRNA from a difficult experimental material to a foundation for vaccines and other therapeutic strategies. The lectures cover both the discovery of the relevant RNA biology and the engineering needed to make that biology useful for inducing desired proteins and immune responses.