Seminars & Events

Mathematics and Computer Science Division
"Modeling of gene regulation and metabolism in microbial organisms."

DATE: February 8, 2011
TIME: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
SPEAKER: Samuel Seaver, MCS Postdoctoral Interviewee
LOCATION: Building 240 Conference Center Rooms 1404 and 1405, Argonne National Laboratory
HOST: Chris Henry

Description:
Researchers are currently investigating ways in which various microbes can be leveraged for industrial and medicinal purposes. The diversity of the microbial world holds much promise for the future of research in chemical and biomedical engineering. However biological systems evolve, and it is undesirable for engineered or synthesized microbes to change, particularly in ways we can not control. We need to be able to anticipate how microbes evolve. Our ability to do so is greatly hampered by the diversity and complexity of the microbial world and the stochasticity that underlies natural selection.

In the work outlined, I take steps towards enabling researchers to understand the evolution of microbes in two areas: metabolic networks and gene regulation. I use a complex systems approach of developing simple models that are placed in the context of evolution. The universality of evolution means that these models apply to a wide range of microbial species and enables researchers to make predictions about the evolution of microbes.

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