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Santa Clara Valley
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UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 7:30 pm
Location: Room M-114, Stanford University Medical School
Optional dinner, location: Nexus Cafeteria in the Clark Center, 6:15 pm(no host, no reservations)
SMRT (Single-Molecule, Real-Time) Biology
Jonas Korlach, PhD
Pacific Biosciences
Abstract:
Organisms can be viewed as dynamic, highly modular, and adaptive systems able to reconfigure themselves as conditions demand. The scientific community is increasingly recognizing that multiple data sources (e.g., DNA, RNA, protein and metabolite levels, etc.) and sophisticated computational approaches that integrate diverse data are required to uncover the hierarchy of molecular, cellular, and tissue-based networks defining these complex physiological transitions, sometimes leading to disease.
While a significant technological revolution in biology has led to this realization, limitations in the available technologies have hampered the ability to embrace this scale of complexity. In order to fully realize the promise of personalized medicine, scientists require a means to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental building blocks of biological systems.
SMRT™ (Single Molecule Real Time) Biology is the application of Pacific Biosciences’ transformative detection platform enabling the real-time monitoring of biological processes at single-molecule resolution. The first commercial application for this transformative platform is SMRT DNA sequencing (available in 2010). Pacific Biosciences has begun expanding internal research programs and developing collaborations for additional ‘SMRT Biology’ applications and bioinformatics tools that will allow scientists to acquire new, fundamental knowledge about the molecular dynamics of life. These include simpler and more direct solutions for RNA sequencing, methylation sequencing, and even the largely uncharted real-time observation of protein translation.
Jonas Korlach, PhD, will discuss this research at the January 20 meeting of the Santa Clara Valley Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society. He will first highlight the importance of a comprehensive determination of DNA, RNA and protein sequences and abundances for the understanding of life processes. He will then describe the principles of the underlying SMRT technology in the context of an historical account of its development which is an example of both the power of multidisciplinary scientific endeavors, and the potential of transferring an academic research project into an industrial organization environment.
The current performance of the SMRT DNA sequencing system will be presented with an emphasis on the enablement of entirely new possibilities of inquiries into biological systems, followed by an outlook of projected performance potentials and implications for the changes it will bring with regard to our perception on medicine.
Biography
Jonas Korlach received a Diplom (Masters) degree in biology from Humboldt University (Germany) in 1996, and a PhD in biochemistry, molecular and cell biology from Cornell University in 2003 where he initiated the technology development on SMRT DNA sequencing as a collaboration between the labs of Watt Webb and Harold Craighead. After a short postdoc at the same institution and as a technical consultant to Pacific Biosciences, continuing with this research, he joined Pacific Biosciences as employee #3 after it received the first round of venture capital funding to commercialize the method. He currently holds the title of Principal Scientist at the company, supporting commercial development of the SMRT DNA sequencing system, and performing research aimed at enabling new applications within the ‘SMRT Biology’ realm.
Watch this space and the IEEE Grid Calendar for upcoming meeting announcements.
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