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Talk by James Sáenz

Title: "From genomically minimal bacteria to an RNA-lipid world"
Occasion: SFB - Seminar
Start: 15.05.2025 4:15 pm
Location: CellNanOs, 38/201

About the speaker: Dr. James Sáenz conducts research at the Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering (CMCB), TU Dresden

The cell membrane is an organizational hub for essential processes like division and metabolism. Deciphering the design principles of living membranes is key to understanding cellular organization and understanding life's origins. In this talk, I will present two approaches my lab is pioneering to decipher the fundamental roles of lipids and membranes. First, we have developed approaches to tune and minimize genomically minimal bacterial model organisms, demonstrating that two lipids are sufficient (but far from optimal) for life. Using these minimal bacteria, we can explore the role of lipids in cellular fitness. Second, we are exploring how lipids can selectively interact with, and modulate RNA activity, giving insights into a primordial RNA world and enabling the design of synthetic membrane sensors and riboregulatory mechanisms. Together, these approaches provide new insights into the role of lipid diversity and membrane biophysics in the origin and organization of life.