Synthetic biology is a broad and rapidly growing field in volving the application of engineering principles to biology. It has the potential to transform biological sciences in the same way that synthetic chemistry changed chemical sciences in the 20th century. My work is focused on the evolution, engineering and application of proteins in synthetic biology, and I have a particular interest in protein fitness landscapes and how these can be predicted for use in engineering (e.g. through the use of machine learning and statistical approaches). In this seminar, I'll discuss some of the projects that my lab is working on, the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology and some ideas for building a strong synthetic biology community at the ANU.

Professor Jackson leads a research group in protein engineering and structural biology, with an extensive track-record in protein evolution and computational design. He is Associate Director of Research at the Research School of Chemistry, and leads the ANU nodes for the ARC Centres of Excellence in Synthetic Biology and Protein and Peptide Science. He recently founded a tech startup (SamsaraEco) that is using engineered enzymes to recycle and upcycle plastic waste.