NSF Center for Genetically Encoded Materials

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The Center for Genetically Encoded Materials (C-GEM) develops new biologically-inspired methods to precisely tailor and build polymers. Polymers, which are comprised of repeated molecular units bonded together, are ubiquitous, from plastic products to DNA. By controlling the identity and linkages of the molecular units, the properties of polymers can be finely tuned, which has led to an explosion of new products and applications. Despite these advances, it is still extremely difficult to systematically and precisely control the sequence of the molecular units in a polymer. With this level of control, new polymers could be developed for information storage, textiles and fabrics, nano-sensors, and drug discovery and delivery. To accomplish this tough but transformative chemistry, C-GEM Is adapting two complementary approaches. First, C-GEM is re-engineering the ribosome to build bonds between molecules in sequence, much like natural ribosomes build proteins by assembling alpha-amino acids in sequence. Second, C-GEM is purposefully expanding the structures of natural polypeptides in ways that dramatically increase their chemical diversity and function. C-GEM also engages and trains diverse groups of students and postdoctoral researchers in collaborative teams at a rich new interface of chemistry, biology, and materials science. C-GEM also engages citizen scientists with a scientific discovery game, EteRNA, that introduces interested gamers to the key concepts of RNA structure, stability, and function. New EteRNA Challenges focus on the chemistry of the ribosome. Overall, C-GEM is establishing a future of bespoke polymers to address health, environmental, and industrial challenges, fostering innovation, and training a diverse workforce at multiple chemistry-biology-materials frontiers.C-GEM’s Phase II research plan includes interrelated goals that will expand ribosome-mediated chemistry to generate molecular architectures unique in both structure and function. C-GEM is also pursuing a parallel path in which innovative “late-stage functionalization” reactions convert ribosome-derived products into substances beyond the reach of extant biosynthesis. Novel and versatile tools to design, evolve, and characterize the molecules of translation will expand their chemical capacity in vitro and in vivo. C-GEM will also use new and existing technologies to determine the structures of the genetically encoded product molecules and polymers, as well as the mechanisms by which they are assembled. A suite of computational methods will evaluate, model, and predict the chemical capacity of wild type and engineered ribosomes, their translation factors, and the properties of the polymers they produce, signaling a new era in computational biomaterial design. Our goals also include strategies to prepare sequence-defined chemical polymers in useful quantities, enabling functions that impact biotechnology, in vivo imaging, molecular medicine, materials science, and drug delivery. A diverse set of education and participation programs integrates research with training, establishes a diverse chemical workforce, and engages with the public.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.