Prof. Julia Kubanek, Georgia Tech (Bio/Chem)

Chemical warfare in the ocean, or, how studying marine ecology can lead to drug discovery

During the course of 3+ billion years, living organisms have evolved complex metabolic pathways for the production and perception of chemical cues. These cues mediate interactions among friends (mates; social groups; symbiotic organisms) and foes (competitors; predators & prey; hosts & pathogens). Humans have found ways to manipulate the chemical language of other organisms for our own use, leading to many of our medicines, agricultural products, and perfumes. But our manipulation of nature is not original - organisms have been co-opting each other's chemical signals (and in some cases, the genes for producing these molecules) for at least millions of years. The exact content of this seminar is not yet determined - but expect to hear about most of the following: new drugs from the sea and why natural product drug discovery is not done; seaweeds and what you have in common with them; unique biosynthetic pathways and organic molecules that come from organisms under attack; mapping the chemical ecology of marine organisms using imaging mass spectrometry; and how Georgia Tech is a great place to develop collaborations.