Start: November 19, 2026 3:30 p.m.
End: November 19, 2026 4:30 p.m.
From Genes to Molecules: Decoding Nature’s Chemistry Toolkit
Dr. Amy Lane
Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Thursday, 11/19 @ 3:30 PM
FB 253
Microorganisms are phenomenal chemists. Using enzymes as their synthetic tools, they transform simple building blocks into structurally diverse molecules (natural products) with wide-reaching applications in medicine, agriculture, and beyond. Genome sequencing has revealed that over 10% of the DNA of some bacterial species encodes enzymes predicted to catalyze natural product assembly, yet most of these molecules remain undiscovered. This knowledge gap limits fundamental understanding of the chemistry of life and constrains the potential of natural products for practical applications. My undergraduate research program decodes Nature’s chemistry toolkit by characterizing and engineering natural product biosynthetic pathways from actinomycete bacteria. This presentation will highlight our discovery and characterization of new pathways that yield diketopiperazine natural products, demonstrating how decoding biosynthetic pathways unlocks new chemical space.