Investigators

Summary

The Deiters Lab works in the areas of Chemical Biology and Synthetic Biology, with the goal of developing novel approaches toward a better understanding of human health and disease. This includes 1) the discovery of small organic molecules that inhibit or activate specific biological pathways. Our discovered microRNA inhibitors have therapeutic implications in cancer and viral infections. 2) We are developing methods for specific covalent modification of proteins and cell surfaces with applications in inhibition of protein function and immunotherapy. 3) We are genetically re-wiring the circuitry of cells in order to give new functions to proteins and organisms. Our approach is based on the expansion of the genetic code with synthetic, unnatural amino acids. 4) Light is a unique control element that enables the regulation of biological processes with high spatial and temporal resolution. We are engineering light-responsive nucleic acids and proteins and are applying them to the optical control of cell signaling, gene editing, and protein degradation.