Peter Q. Nguyen's Webpage
I am currently a Biochemistry PhD. candidate at Rice University. My interests include protein engineering, synthetic biology, evolution on a macro and molecular scale, artificial immunology, and the morphological classification of do-nuts.
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson.
My major projects include:
1. Protein-protein interactions in thermophilic organisms.
Life thrives on Earth in a wide range of environmental
conditions and at bewildering extremes of temperature, pressure, acidity, salinity, and
radiation exposure. Organisms that grow at high
temperatures are classified as thermophiles (optimal growth 50°C – 80°C) and
hyperthermophiles (optimal growth 80°C and above), and they are typically bacteria or
archaea. Thermophiles are a unique class of extremophiles because
their extreme environment impacts all of their constituent biomolecules. Phylogenetic analysis has placed thermophiles at the root of the tree of life, leading to the theory that they are common ancestors to all extant organisms.
Genomic sequencing efforts have provided a proteins parts list for a large
number of thermophilic organisms. However, our understanding of thermophile
physiology still remains in its infancy and the cellular functions for a large fraction of
these proteins remains unclear. Recent high-thoughput attempts to map protein-protein
interactions in these microbes have had limited success compared with studies in
mesophilic organisms. My work is focused on extending our understanding of proteinprotein
interactions in thermophiles. I propose to develop a novel protein fragment
complementation assay (PCA) for monitoring proteinprotein
interactions within a thermophilic organism. My goal is to use this assay to
determine if some protein-protein interactions are strongly influenced by the
environment in which they are measured.
2. Design of a synthetic predator-prey system by quorumtaxis.
I am also coordinating the experimental design and implementation for Rice university's 2006 iGEM team. We have an exciting concept and a group of great faculty, grad students, and enthusiastic undergraduates. Synthetic biology is bits and parts of well-established fields, such as genetic engineering, metabolic engineering, and regulatory modeling. However, synthetic biology rises above just being a buzz word in that it has an audacious objective in mind -- the wholesale manipulation of genetic modules to create novel complex phenotypes in living organisms. This is quite different than expressing a desired isolate in the form protein or metabolite in a living cell; rather, we are focusing on changing the behavior of the cell. The cells themselves are the products, acting as programmable living microorganisms.
'Quorumtaxis' is the integration of two naturally occuring bacterial functions - quorum sensing and chemitaxis. Specifically, we are attempting to engineer E.coli that are able to detect B.subtilis (the target, or prey) in the environment, move towards it, and produce a kill response. To date, there has been no artificially designed predator-prey systems engineered in living organisms. For more information, please visit the Rice University iGEM wiki!
Last updated 09-24-2006