The QBI Seminar Series is presenting Aseem Ansari on Friday, March 22 at 2:00 PM at Gladstone Institutes. Aseem Ansari is a Professor of Chemical and Synthetic Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also the founder of the Khorana and Bose Programs.

The Ansari group has pioneered the development of synthetic transcription factors (SynTFs) to control desired gene regulatory networks and guide cell fate choices. Integrating structure-guided design and chemical genomics, they created a class of molecules that can rewire epigenetic states at targeted genomic loci. SynTFs can restore the expression of genes whose deficiency causes incurable neuronal diseases such as Friedreich’s ataxia. Their design strategy enables precision-targeting of other genomic loci to investigate the etiology of a wide array of diseases.