AI as a tool to accelerate protein discovery and protein design
AI as a tool to accelerate protein discovery and protein design
The Department of Data Science and AI welcomes Dr Gavin Knott from the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute to present on his work applying AI to problems in protein discovery and design. Come along and be inspired!
Abstract:
Artificial intelligence has profoundly impacted the field of structural biology with rapid advances in accurate protein structure prediction allowing researchers to study predicted structure and infer function. In the first part of this presentation, we describe our application of AlphaFold to entire genomes to uncover tools for biotechnology and reveal the nature of enigmatic Archaeal extrachromosomal elements. Artificial intelligence has also transformed the design of proteins with critical developments in generative AI. In the second part of this presentation, we describe our application of AI-driven protein design to create highly potent and specific binders to targets of interest.
Speaker
Dr Gavin Knott
Gavin obtained his PhD from the University of Western Australia where he was trained as a structural biologist and researched the mechanisms of human long non-coding RNA binding proteins involved in paraspeckle structure and function. After completing his PhD in 2016, Gavin accepted a position in the lab of Prof. Jennifer Doudna at the University of California Berkeley. During his postdoctoral years he described the mechanisms of RNA targeting CRISPR systems, compositions for CRISPR diagnostics, the mechanisms evolved by phage to overcome CRISPR immunity, and the molecular basis for precision genome editors. During this time, Gavin was a key inventor on many patents and catalyzed commercialization of CRISPR diagnostics and engineering of next generation CRISPR-Cas gene editors. Gavin received the Sir. Keith Murdoch Fellowship from the American Australian Association in 2018 and an EL1 NHMRC Investigator Grant in 2020, the latter of which set him on a path back to Australia. In March 2021, he established his lab in the Biomedicine Discovery Institute at Monash University. In 2022 Gavin was a recipient of a Snow Medical Fellowship. Since 2023, the Gavin has been funded by a Snow Medical to support his team to explore microbial dark matter and use AI to develop novel biotechnologies.
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