<![CDATA[Loren Williams' "Alphabet of Life" Featured in Science News]]> 27195 Loren Williams' research featured in cover article of February 2011 Science News - "Alphabet of Life - Searching for clues to the genetic code's origin"

]]> Colly Mitchell 1 1296476202 2011-01-31 12:16:42 1475893446 2016-10-08 02:24:06 0 0 hgTechInTheNews 2011-02-12T00:00:00-05:00 2011-02-12T00:00:00-05:00 2011-02-12T00:00:00-05:00 <![CDATA[Georgia Tech Hosts Symposium on the Ribosome]]> 27224 For the 19th year, Georgia Tech is hosting the Suddath Symposium in honor of Leroy "Bud" Suddath, a late professor of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.  This year's meeting focuses on the ribosome and its structure, function and evolution, exploring scientific implications ranging from understanding the origin and early evolution of life to the development of novel pharmaceuticals.  The symposium is organized by the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB), the Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution, and NASA on April 1-2.

“We are excited that this year's symposium will feature foremost experts on the ribosome, including the 2009 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry – Professor Ada Yonath (Weizmann Institute)," said Adegboyega Oyelere, assistant professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the symposium chair.

This annual symposium celebrates the life and contributions of Suddath by discussing the latest developments in the fields of bioengineering and bioscience. The speakers include leading researchers from across the globe. Due to the high quality of the speakers, the 2011 meeting sold out weeks ago.

“If you can not register for the in-person meeting, which is now at capacity, you still have an opportunity to attend virtually. We are using social networking tools for world-wide participation in the meeting,“ said co-organizer, Loren Williams, professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and director of the Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution.

Georgia Tech has partnered with NASA to showcase the symposium, in its entirety, over the internet. Virtual participants will view the presentations in real-time and can chat with the other cyber-attendees using Facebook on the home page of the symposium's website. Over 200 attendees, more than twice the number that will attend in person, from around the globe have registered to participate virtually. Countries represented include Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, Portugal and Venezuela.

“IBB will be showcased around the world as people beam into the seminar room to see our local symposium worldwide,” Williams said.

The ribosome is a molecular machine that is responsible for protein synthesis in all living cells. This indispensable component of life, which contains both RNA and proteins, can be viewed as a molecular fossil. That is, the comparison of ribosomal RNA and proteins from distantly related organisms suggests that the origins and evolution of protein synthesis remain imprinted in present day ribosomes, providing a “rewindable” molecular recording of early evolution that appears to go all the way back to the origin of life. Because the ribosome is central to the biochemistry of all life, it is a major target for drug development.

Each year, the Suddath Symposium theme changes, although the scientific committee selects an interdisciplinary topic that they feel Suddath would have been excited about. "A symposium focusing on the ribosome is particularly fitting, as Bud (Suddath) contributed to solving the structure of tRNA, a key substrate which is used by the ribosome to make proteins,” Oyelere explained.  Suddath’s research efforts ultimately led to a set of protein growth experiments aboard the Space Shuttle in 1988.

]]> Megan McDevitt 1 1301319350 2011-03-28 13:35:50 1475896106 2016-10-08 03:08:26 0 0 news For the 19th year, Georgia Tech is hosting the Suddath Symposium in honor of Leroy "Bud" Suddath, a late professor of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.  This year's meeting focuses on the ribosome and its structure, function and evolution, exploring scientific implications ranging from understanding the origin and early evolution of life to the development of novel pharmaceuticals.  The symposium is organized by the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB), the Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution and NASA on April 1-2.

]]> 2011-03-28T00:00:00-04:00 2011-03-28T00:00:00-04:00 2011-03-28 00:00:00 Megan Graziano McDevitt
Marketing and Event Manager
Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)
(404) 385-7001

]]> 65185 65185 image <![CDATA[Thermus thermophilus - large submit ribosomal RNA]]> image/png 1449176801 2015-12-03 21:06:41 1475894577 2016-10-08 02:42:57 <![CDATA[Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience]]> <![CDATA[2011 Suddath Symposium site]]> <![CDATA[Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution]]> <![CDATA[Georgia Tech Hosts NASA Astrobiology Institute Meeting]]> 27224 On January 20-21, 2011, the Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution (RiboEvo), is hosting the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Executive Council at the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The NAI is a partnership between NASA and teams located at academic institutions, research laboratories and NASA centers across the country.

The NAI Executive Council is comprised of the NAI Director, Carl Pilcher, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Edward Goolish, Ph.D. and the directors of the fourteen NAI teams from across the country. The purpose of the meeting is to evaluate and discuss new opportunities for NAI-wide research, space mission activities, technological development, and external partnerships.

The Georgia Tech NAI center, RiboEvo, was established in February 2009 with a five year grant of 6.4 million dollars from NASA. RiboEvo is lead by the center's director, Loren D. Williams, Ph.D., professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. RiboEvo is a multidisciplinary research center and is comprised of scientists from Georgia Tech, Emory University, John Hopkins University, the University of California at Santa Cruz and the University of Houston.

Although dispersed throughout the country, together these NAI teams work collaboratively to integrate interdisciplinary research and education in astrobiology with the goal of rewinding the tape of life. The idea being if you can understand the origin and evolution of life on earth you can then anticipate the nature of it across the universe.

RiboEvo investigators specifically focus on research surrounding the ribosome, the oldest molecular assembly in biology. Using the ribosome, RiboEvo performs molecular paleontology or mining of biophysical and inorganic chemistry from ancient biological systems.

“The ribosome tells the story of some of life’s aboriginal molecules, assemblies and chemical reactions,” Williams said. “Understanding the ribosome will uncover clues in the transition from the RNA world to the RNA-DNA-protein world.”

The work from this research center carries the potential of discovering and characterizing the oldest traceable macromolecules and machines of life, as well as the earliest discernable connection between RNA and protein.

]]> Megan McDevitt 1 1295398800 2011-01-19 01:00:00 1475896082 2016-10-08 03:08:02 0 0 news On January 20-21, 2011, the Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution (RiboEvo), is hosting the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Executive Council at the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The NAI is a partnership between NASA and teams located at academic institutions, research laboratories and NASA centers across the country.

]]> 2011-01-20T00:00:00-05:00 2011-01-20T00:00:00-05:00 2011-01-20 00:00:00 Megan Graziano McDevitt

Marketing and Event Manager
Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience
Contact Megan McDevitt
404-385-7001

]]> 64074 64074 image <![CDATA[NASA Astrobiology Institute]]> image/gif 1449176720 2015-12-03 21:05:20 1475894564 2016-10-08 02:42:44 <![CDATA[Center for Ribosomal Origins and Evolution]]> <![CDATA[NASA Astrobiology Institute]]> <![CDATA[Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience]]>