Check out photos and highlights from the event.
The first-ever Genetic Code Expansion (GCE) Conference was hosted by the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Oregon State University August 11-14, 2016. The conference brought together diverse scientific disciplines that focus on developing and using GCE technology.
Nearly 100 scientists from industry, academia and other research institutions converged to discuss the latest GCE techniques and approaches applicable to drug discovery efforts, material science, bioorganic chemistry within cellular and molecular processes, the development of interdisciplinary research tools and probes, and more.
The conference was organized and chaired by Ryan Mehl, associate professor in biochemistry and biophysics at OSU, and Jason Chin head of the Centre for Chemical & Synthetic Biology at the University of Cambridge. Mehl is the director of OSU's Unnatural Protein Facility, the first laboratory of its kind and provides researchers full access to current non-canonical amino acid protein production capability for academic studies.
Conference sessions include foundational genetic code expansion technology, design of new cellular tools to probe biology, chemical approaches that facilitate advances in imaging cellular control, strategies for studying protein post-translational modification, advances in bioorthogonal chemistry, code expansion, and more.
Leading experts and scholars from around the world shared their research on GCE technology, including keynote speakers David Tirrell from the California Institute of Technology, USA, and Kensaku Sakamoto from RIKEN, Japan. Other speakers included scientists at leading research institutes and universities from Germany, China, Switzerland, and Scotland.
The conference was sponsored and supported by the National Science Foundation, the American Chemical Society, and OSU's College of Science, College of Engineering and the Department of Chemistry.
Genetic Code Expansion Workshop
A weeklong pre-conference Genetic Code Expansion Workshop was held for students and faculty from across the country and world, who arrived on campus with their experiments in hand ready to collaborate, problem solve and learn. This experimental learning in the lab helps scientists resolve challenges that may have stumped them back in their home labs. Acquiring new knowledge and making progress on their experiments is a primary reason both young and experienced scientists flock to the GCE Workshop. All experiments are shipped back to participants' home universities.
See photos of students conducting research in the Teaching Lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.
