Please join Yale Chemistry for a Novartis Seminar in Organic Chemistry Seminar with Yang Yang, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, from University of California, Santa Barbara.
Title: TBD
Enzymes are capable of catalyzing some of the most challenging reactions such as nitrogen fixation and methane oxidation under exceptionally mild conditions. Nonetheless, research to fully unlock enzyme’s immense potential for synthetic applications is still in infancy. By integrating chemistry, biology and artificial intelligence, the Yang laboratory is developing novel biocatalytic strategies to tackle daunting challenges in synthesis, catalysis and biomolecular engineering. First, we are addressing long-standing problems in asymmetric catalysis by taking advantage of the intimate enzyme-substrate interaction that can be easily tuned via directed evolution. Second, by synergistically coupling small-molecule catalysis and biocatalysis, we are advancing novel enzymatic processes that are both new-to-biology and new-to-chemistry. Third, we are developing artificial intelligence and automation tools to accelerate the development of customized biocatalysts and to understand enzyme structure-activity relationships. Using an interdisciplinary approach combining synthetic chemistry, synthetic biology, computational chemistry, and computational biology, we reprogram and reinvent nature’s biosynthetic machineries to access reaction space well beyond the native biochemical landscape. Collectively, these efforts will provide insight into fundamental enzymology and reactivity patterns, allowing for the rapid assembly of small and macromolecules of biomedical as well as materials importance.
For more information about Prof. Yang’s research: https://yang.chem.ucsb.edu/research
Faculty Host: Prof. Scott Miller
This seminar can be viewed online: Panopto