How do proteins evolve?
Date:
Tuesday, December 18, 2018 14:00 - 15:00
Speaker:
Dan S. Tawfik (Weizmann Institute of Science)
Location:
Seminar Room, Lab Building East
Series:
Life Sciences Seminar
Host:
Fyodor Kondrashov
Contact:
MALLY Alexandra
I will describe findings and models regarding how new proteins functions evolve, via gradual, small changes in sequence and structure. However, the mechanisms of such evolutionary micro-transitions do not explain the macro evolutionary transitions how (and whether) did proteins emerge de novo? The size, structural complexity, and functional near-perfection of proteins, makes this Q particularly daunting. In the second part of my talk I will discuss our findings with respect to the de novo emergence of functional, globular proteins from short peptides, and specifically, new insight regarding the emergence of the earliest proteins.