ACMiN Seminar: „Merging Nanotechnology & Synthetic Biology toward Directed Evolution of Energy Materials”
It is our pleasure to invite you to attend the Krakow Condensed Matter Seminar which will be held on Thursday, October 21st at 2.00 p.m. in the ACMiN auditorium no.: 1.02A, on the second floor, bldg. D-16 (Kawiory Street 30). Alternatively, you can join the meeting via the link below:
The lecture entitled „Merging Nanotechnology & Synthetic Biology toward Directed Evolution of Energy Materials„ will be given by Dr Elena Rozhkova (Nanoscience and Technology Division Argonne National Laboratory, USA) who will join us online.
Abstract:
The light-matter interaction has been making a major impact since the ignition and evolution of life on Earth. It is the cornerstone of modern life changing technologies, above all, photocatalysis and sustainable energy production. The interface between nanomaterials and biological systems, the living and synthetic worlds, has evolved into a new science, nanobiotechnology, which deals with the design of materials for a variety of applications, from the nature-inspired sunlight energy conversion through “artificial photosynthesis” to cell modulation through optogenetics. The evolution of a new function, which goes far beyond the individual original inorganic particles and organic molecules, requires a powerful combination of chemical synthesis, fabrication, synthetic biology, and self-assembly into hybrid hierarchical structures. In our work we use microbial rhodopsins, transmembrane protein channels, that are capable of light-guided translocation of ions across the lipid membrane. Thus far, we constructed hybrids based on inorganic nanoparticles (e.g. TiO2, noble metals) engineered with natural light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin that resulted in new artificial photosynthesis function, such as H2 evolution [1-4], CO2 reduction to value-added chemicals [5], and cell-like ATP synthesis [6]. In our other project, we utilized Gd2(WO4)3:Eu radioluminescent nanoparticles, which absorb X-ray energy and convert it into optical luminescence. When these nanoparticles are introduced into the brain, they serve as an in vivo source of photons for high-fidelity modulation of a light-gated channelrhodopsin in neurons, thus offering a new wireless optogenetic approach.
References:
1. Nano letters 13 (7), 3365-3371 (2013),
2. ACS Nano 8 (8), 7995-8002 (2014),
3. ACS Nano 11 (7), 6739-6745 (2017),
4. US Patent 10,220,378 (2019),
5. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 141 (30), 11811-11815
(2019),
6. Angewandte Chemie Int Ed 58,4896–4900 (2019),
7. ACS Nano 15 (3), 5201–5208 (2021),
8. US Patent App 20210060164A1 (2021)
