SCAN:The translational applications of an Evolutionary Cell Biology

 

At the Computational Genomics Laboratory@IGC we work at the intersection between evolutionary and cell biology. We study the origins and mechanisms of intracellular compartmentalisation, a feature of all cells, Eukaryotic and Prokarotic. Our work so far has dealt with the origins of Eukaryotic intracellular compartments and I will give a (very short) overview about our activities on the origins of the endomembrane system, protein based organelles and of bacterial-derived organelles. I will use this later type of compartments to discuss some of the translational dimension of our work, specifically on the use of evolutionary reasoning (adaptation!) to find new uses for old drugs. If the audience is still awake, I will discuss where we want to head next, and in particular the studying of bacterial intracellular compartmentalisation.