BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//ZContent.net//ZapCalLib 1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New Cellular and Interkingdom Functions Afforded by the Biosynthesi s of Non-standard Amino Acids LOCATION:Biology 134 TZID:America/Denver DTSTART:20240930T160000 UID:2026-05-24-00-31-19@natsci.colostate.edu DTSTAMP:20260524T003119 Description:Speaker Bio\nAditya Kunjapur is an Assistant Professor and the Thomas Willing Early Career Professor of Chemical &\; Biomolecular Engi neering at the University of Delaware. He earned B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and MIT in 20 10 and 2015\, respectively. After conducting post-doctoral research with G eorge Church at Harvard Medical School\, Aditya started his lab at Delawar e in Dec. 2018. His lab seeks to expand the microbial chemistry repertoire to include new-to-nature building blocks for applications in human and pl anetary health. The lab\\'s work has been recognized through awards such a s the Langer Prize from AIChE\, a New Innovation Award from FFAR\, an NIH Director\\'s New Innovator Award\, an ONR YIP\, the SIMB Early Career Awar d\, and the BioInnovation Institute &\; Science Grand Prize for Innovat ion. When not at work\, Aditya enjoys entertaining his two young girls.\nA bstract\nWhether in our guts or in the environment\, microbes play critica l roles in shaping the health of natural systems. Thanks to advances in sy nthetic biology\, we can reliably engineer microbes to augment their natur al capabilities or to impart them with new-to-nature functions. Our potent ial use of engineered microbes in open systems rather than in bioreactors could help address diverse challenges in human and environmental health. H owever\, we face a few barriers before we can deploy engineered microbes e ffectively and safely. First\, we cannot yet engineer microbial factories to produce many of the kinds of functional group chemistries that are char acteristic of the most effective synthetic medicines\, agrochemicals\, or materials. Second\, we cannot yet reliably control the proliferation of an engineered microbe to mitigate the risk of unintended spread. Our lab has been making exciting progress tackling both of these topics\, all with a common big picture strategy of programming cells to create and harness rar e building blocks. In this talk\, I will present three vignettes of where the biosynthesis of non-standard amino acids (nsAAs) can enable new opport unities. Specifically\, I will describe new capabilities that have relevan ce to medicine and sensing. I will devote more time to the discussion of s afeguards that offer the promise to control the survival and functions of engineered microbes in the environment for purposes such as agriculture or bioremediation. 4:00 pm END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR