The Myth of Magic Engineering Cell-free Biology for Sustainable Hydrogen Production and Novel Influenza Vaccines

UW Chemical Engineering Autumn 2012 The Myth of Magic: Engineering Cell-free Biology for Sustainable Hydrogen Production and Novel Influenza Vaccines James R Swartz James H Clark Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University Date: Monday, Nov 19, 2012 Time: 4:00 p.m - 5:00 p.m Place: PAA A110 Biology is amazing! The closer we look, the more we are awed by its versatility, durability, and complexity But, it is NOT magic As we learn more about its fundamental operational principles, amazing potential emerges for addressing daunting societal challenges This is especially true for cell-fee biology, the activation of complex biological processes without living cells To illustrate this potential, this talk will describe a new vision for cell-free metabolic engineering that, for the first time, would allow precise real time control of metabolic fluxes A new, highly productive approach for sustainable hydrogen production will also be presented as well as progress toward a novel influenza vaccine that could be unusually potent as well as broadly protective Even though these applications are very different, they can all be addressed by the power of cell-free biochemical engineering