Oregon State is at the forefront of transformative discoveries and innovations that address global challenges, a central goal of the university’s new strategic plan, “Prosperity Widely Shared.” Through pioneering research, innovative teaching and public engagement, the College of Science is making significant strides in building a brighter future. Our scientists are collaborating across disciplines, industries and communities to create breakthroughs in integrated health and biotechnology — solutions that hold immense potential to improve healthcare, address critical health issues and revolutionize medicine. Expanding genetic code to unlock advanced therapeutics For billions of years, Earth’s organisms have used the same 20 amino acids to build proteins — the fundamental building blocks of life. But what if that list was expanded? Imagine a future where researchers can design proteins with unprecedented precision, creating targeted therapies for diseases like cancer or developing advanced diagnostic tools that can detect conditions at their earliest stages. This is the exciting potential waiting to be unlocked through pioneering research at Oregon State, where scientists are expanding available amino acids beyond the standard 20 and then put them to work. OSU’s Genetic Code Expansion Center (GCE4All) is the world’s first center dedicated to optimizing, developing and disseminating groundbreaking genetic code expansion technologies. These technologies allow for the incorporation of non-standard amino acids into proteins, thereby expanding the genetic code. Bolstered by significant grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the center is positioned to have a strong global impact, driving innovation across various fields of science and medicine. Led by director Ryan Mehl, GCE4All was also selected as one of 11 national pilot projects to receive $234K from the NobleReach Foundation. In partnership with NSF, NobleReach funding accelerates the translation of NSF-funded research into biotechnologies and bio-inspired designs with significant commercial and societal impacts. One of the center’s current projects is developing a labeling system for live cells to advance molecularlevel studies in research, medicine and biotechnology. The center also received funding from the National Institutes of Health and Agilent Scientific Instruments for a first-of-its-kind mass spectrometer, a crucial tool for validating GCE technology. This spectrometer, along with other instruments produced by Agilent, further validate and enhance GCE technologies. Revolutionizing protein research and therapeutics GCE4All, launched in 2022 as an NIH Biomedical Technology Optimization and Dissemination Center, is funded for $5.6M over five years. Mehl and the NIH anticipate that enhancing GCE tools’ reliability and usability will drive significant research discoveries. “All life on the planet uses the same amino acids. Now, instead of limiting ourselves, we can introduce fundamentally new amino acids and chemistry into proteins,” Mehl said. “It’s a toolkit for meticulous protein study and manipulation for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes.” Standard amino acids (left, light blue) form the building blocks of all life on earth — but non-standard amino acids (left, yellow) can be placed into proteins to learn more about how those proteins function, and for practical applications like targeted therapeutics. This process, genetic code expansion, is the focus of Biochemist Ryan Mehl’s research and the GCE4All Center. IMPACT FALL 2024 7
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