Uncovering the Secrets to Biological Complexity

Early assumptions that the secret to complexity was tied up in our DNA led to one of the most surprising outcomes of the Human Genome Project—that we have far fewer genes than many other seemingly simple organisms! This talk will explore the hypothesis that the true origin of biological complexity lies in our proteins and their intricate chemical structures.

schedule Date & time
29 Jun 2021 | 4:30pm
person Speaker
Dr Lara Malins
next_week Event series
STEM Guest Lecture Series
contact_support Contact
international.science@anu.edu.au

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Description

Scientists have long sought to understand the origins of biological complexity, including what makes us, as humans, such complex beings. Early assumptions that the secret to complexity was tied up in our DNA led to one of the most surprising outcomes of the Human Genome Project—that we have far fewer genes than many other seemingly simple organisms! This talk will explore the hypothesis that the true origin of biological complexity lies in our proteins and their intricate chemical structures.

Dr Lara Malins

About the speaker

Dr Lara Malins completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry at Boston University in 2009. She relocated to The University of Sydney as an International Postgraduate Research Scholar to undertake her PhD with Professor Richard Payne on the development of new peptide ligation strategies. Upon completion of her postgraduate work, Lara served as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Professor Phil Baran at The Scripps Research Institute, developing synthetic methods for the targeted modification of peptides.

She was appointed Research Fellow at the Research School of Chemistry in November 2017 and is currently a Senior Lecturer and Westpac Research Fellow.

Webinar recording

Location

Online

-35.2746393, 149.1181055