Directed Evolution of Photosystem Chemistry
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Life Sciences
Abstract
The importance of photosynthesis for the evolution of life can hardly be overemphasised. It represents one of the key innovations that transformed Earth and paved the way for the rise of complex life.
Today, the improvement of photosynthesis to enhance crops and the production of compounds of commercial interest has become one of the grand challenges of photosynthesis research.
To improve photosynthesis, it is necessary to change photosynthesis. The study of the evolution of photosynthesis is the study of how photosynthesis has changed through time, which has been the focus of my research. The study of the evolution of photosynthesis can provide relevant insight on its potential for change, optimisation, or improvement.
For example, my research has shown that in several occasions through geological time, the chemistry of oxygenic photosynthesis was rapidly and radically optimised to match environments with very atypical light conditions such as those found at 200 meter-deep open ocean waters or within stromatolites. This indicated that the process has a level of plasticity and potential for adaptability well beyond what is currently recognised.
I want to link my research on the evolution of photosynthesis with Directed Evolution methods to experimentally prove that it is possible to control and purposefully change the chemistry of photosynthesis.
Directed Evolution is an extremely versatile method that is used to change the traits or the activity of a given enzyme by exploiting evolution. It can be done simply by subjecting an organism through repeated cycles of selection under the conditions that favour the desired traits, it can be enhanced by turbocharging mutational rates, it can be focused on a single gene of interest, and it can be combined with another method called Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction (ASR).
ASR is an evolutionary method commonly used to compute the most likely ancestral state of an enzyme. The ancestral enzyme gene can then be made using commercially available services and used to study the properties of the ancestral enzyme in the test tube. An interesting outcome of ASR is that the ancestral enzymes show superior stability and functional flexibility. These properties have made the combination of ASR and Directed Evolution a powerful biotechnological tool.
I currently lead a research programme on the molecular evolution of photosynthesis and this employs ASR to reconstruct the ancestral states of Photosystem II.
Photosystems are nature's solar cells and they power life on Earth by converting light into useful chemical energy. They have done so for billions of years. Photosystem II uses light to decompose water into oxygen, protons, and to generate an electric current. This is the hallmark chemical reaction of oxygenic photosynthesis.
The photosystems are very complex molecular machines. This complexity means that they evolve very slowly. It is often believed that they exist as "frozen metabolic accidents". A concept that was introduced to imply that these systems have reached a maximum level of optimal performance and therefore have limited evolvability: in other words, it is thought that they cannot be changed in any way that is useful. This view is however contradicted by my own work, which instead suggests the photosystems have tremendous natural adaptability potential.
My research group aims to demonstrate that the function of the photosystems can be changed and controlled in any desirable way with the use of Directed Evolution. We will demonstrate that the function of the photosystems can be optimised to any particular condition given an appropriate set of selective pressures. We will provide tools and a molecular blueprint for the control and optimisation of photosystem chemistry for potential future molecular applications.
Today, the improvement of photosynthesis to enhance crops and the production of compounds of commercial interest has become one of the grand challenges of photosynthesis research.
To improve photosynthesis, it is necessary to change photosynthesis. The study of the evolution of photosynthesis is the study of how photosynthesis has changed through time, which has been the focus of my research. The study of the evolution of photosynthesis can provide relevant insight on its potential for change, optimisation, or improvement.
For example, my research has shown that in several occasions through geological time, the chemistry of oxygenic photosynthesis was rapidly and radically optimised to match environments with very atypical light conditions such as those found at 200 meter-deep open ocean waters or within stromatolites. This indicated that the process has a level of plasticity and potential for adaptability well beyond what is currently recognised.
I want to link my research on the evolution of photosynthesis with Directed Evolution methods to experimentally prove that it is possible to control and purposefully change the chemistry of photosynthesis.
Directed Evolution is an extremely versatile method that is used to change the traits or the activity of a given enzyme by exploiting evolution. It can be done simply by subjecting an organism through repeated cycles of selection under the conditions that favour the desired traits, it can be enhanced by turbocharging mutational rates, it can be focused on a single gene of interest, and it can be combined with another method called Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction (ASR).
ASR is an evolutionary method commonly used to compute the most likely ancestral state of an enzyme. The ancestral enzyme gene can then be made using commercially available services and used to study the properties of the ancestral enzyme in the test tube. An interesting outcome of ASR is that the ancestral enzymes show superior stability and functional flexibility. These properties have made the combination of ASR and Directed Evolution a powerful biotechnological tool.
I currently lead a research programme on the molecular evolution of photosynthesis and this employs ASR to reconstruct the ancestral states of Photosystem II.
Photosystems are nature's solar cells and they power life on Earth by converting light into useful chemical energy. They have done so for billions of years. Photosystem II uses light to decompose water into oxygen, protons, and to generate an electric current. This is the hallmark chemical reaction of oxygenic photosynthesis.
The photosystems are very complex molecular machines. This complexity means that they evolve very slowly. It is often believed that they exist as "frozen metabolic accidents". A concept that was introduced to imply that these systems have reached a maximum level of optimal performance and therefore have limited evolvability: in other words, it is thought that they cannot be changed in any way that is useful. This view is however contradicted by my own work, which instead suggests the photosystems have tremendous natural adaptability potential.
My research group aims to demonstrate that the function of the photosystems can be changed and controlled in any desirable way with the use of Directed Evolution. We will demonstrate that the function of the photosystems can be optimised to any particular condition given an appropriate set of selective pressures. We will provide tools and a molecular blueprint for the control and optimisation of photosystem chemistry for potential future molecular applications.
Planned Impact
The tangible or practical outputs of my UKRI FLF will be genomic and phylogenetic data, the methodological tools associated with the implementation of Directed Evolution to the light reactions of photosynthesis, and developed cyanobacterial strains that may be of interest for structure/function studies of photosynthesis or in biotechnology. The intangible outputs will be a superior understanding of the origin and molecular evolution of photosynthesis as well as fundamental principles and tools to change and control the chemistry of photosynthesis, which could lead to future potential applications.
The outputs of my programme will benefit current members of the photosynthesis group and the department, as well as students at all levels, other scientists in multiple disciplines involved in photosynthesis research, other scientists in other disciplines whose research is informed by the understanding of the evolution of photosynthesis, other scientists interested in the genetic engineering of photosynthetic organisms, other scientists and engineers interested in the translation of research into technologies, and the public.
The impact and benefits of my research will be immediately realisable after the outputs are available through associated news and media content, through dissemination at highly-regarded international conferences and meetings, through teaching and supervision of a new generation of scientists, and through public engagement via academic and non-academic online platforms, social media content, and the institution's popular festivals and science fairs. The potential biotechnological impact of my outputs may be realised at a later stage as promising targets are translated into viable technologies.
The outputs of my programme will benefit current members of the photosynthesis group and the department, as well as students at all levels, other scientists in multiple disciplines involved in photosynthesis research, other scientists in other disciplines whose research is informed by the understanding of the evolution of photosynthesis, other scientists interested in the genetic engineering of photosynthetic organisms, other scientists and engineers interested in the translation of research into technologies, and the public.
The impact and benefits of my research will be immediately realisable after the outputs are available through associated news and media content, through dissemination at highly-regarded international conferences and meetings, through teaching and supervision of a new generation of scientists, and through public engagement via academic and non-academic online platforms, social media content, and the institution's popular festivals and science fairs. The potential biotechnological impact of my outputs may be realised at a later stage as promising targets are translated into viable technologies.
Organisations
- Imperial College London (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Manchester (Collaboration)
- ETH Zurich (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM (Collaboration)
- Yale University (Collaboration)
- George Washington University (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
Publications
Gisriel CJ
(2021)
Recent advances in the structural diversity of reaction centers.
in Photosynthesis research
Gisriel CJ
(2022)
Molecular Evolution of Far-Red Light-Acclimated Photosystem II.
in Microorganisms
Murphy
(2022)
Photosynthetic Life: Origin, Evolution, and Future
Oliver T
(2023)
The Evolution and Evolvability of Photosystem II.
in Annual review of plant biology
Oliver T
(2021)
Time-resolved comparative molecular evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis.
in Biochimica et biophysica acta. Bioenergetics
Saw JH
(2021)
Complete Genome Sequencing of a Novel Gloeobacter Species from a Waterfall Cave in Mexico.
in Genome biology and evolution
| Description | We are working toward enabling methods to engineer the components of photosynthesis, the photosystems, to enable biotechnological applications that could have an impact on the development of sustainable advanced technologies. Within the first 3 years of the fellowship we have been able to develop and adapt methods to perform directed evolution of the photosystems. We have produced the first gene libraries that diversify the key component of the photosystem. We have adapted simpler and more complex methods, which we are now using to engineer novel photosystems. We have now isolated over 50 photosystems with an unprecedented range of mutations that we plan to continue characterizing, and are preparing for a second round of evolution. We have developed a CRISPR-based hypermutation system that we're about to deploy to begin testing and characterizing. We have also initiated a long-term genome evolution experiment in cyanobacteria: the only lineage of bacteria capable of oxygenic photosynthesis and of major biotech interest for developing green technologies. We have now over 80 genomes from five different strains, under different conditions and time points, giving us, for the first time, a high resulution view of genome evolution for these organisms. This new data is becoming a source of new discoveries and might have major impact for the practices and maintainance of photosynthetic microbes in culture collection or biotechnology projects. We have now sufficient data for a first publication, which is under preparation at the moment. |
| Exploitation Route | The research is ongoing. I hope however that many of the method we are developing will open possibilities for the use of photosynthetic enzyme in biocatalysis applications. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | The sponsored work on the origin and evolution of photosynthesis is impacting how we understand the emergence of life on earth. This is already starting to influence how the evolution of life is taught and presented to the general public and students at A-level/undergraduate level. To give a couple of examples, I have contributed a new textbook targeted titled "Photosynthetic life: Origin, Evolution, and Future." that is proving popular, which has revisited perspectives on the history of life. The documentary "The Universe" produced by BBC Studios and hosted by Prof. Brian Cox presented concepts on the importance of photosynthesis for the evolution of life that were influenced by my work, as I was personally interviewed by the producer Poppy Pinnock. I have published a major paper in Annual Reviews of Plant Biology aimed at a broad redearship, which is likely to become seminal in the subject, and which offers perspectives on the utilization of hotosynthesis that has never been considered in the literature before, but which I believe had the potential to kick-start many novel research pathways that will benefit society. I have also promoted our work at major conferences and recently through a very popular podcast by the American Chemical Society that are likely to reach a major audiance. The sponsored work on "directed evolution" and "long-term genome evolution" are still at early stages since the research programme is new. However, it is highly likely that this will have a strong impact within the chemical, energy, environmental, biotech, and agricultural sector. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Creative Economy,Education,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | Improving and promoting interest in plant biosciences, biotech, and evolution |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | The textbook was published at the end of 2022. The five peer-reviewers, all senior academics, reported that they would be interested in teaching the content and rated it highly. After the publication I've recieved many personal messages from teachers and academics citing how excited they were about the subject. And since its release, I've noted an increase in request from UG and PG students to do research within my group in the plant sciences. |
| URL | https://global.oup.com/ukhe/product/photosynthetic-life-9780198815723?cc=gb&lang=en& |
| Description | EPSRC-DTP: Engineering photosystem I for light-driven biocatalysis |
| Amount | £80,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2022 |
| End | 04/2025 |
| Description | NERC SSCP DTP - Photosynthesis and genome evolution of cyanobacteria from polar environments |
| Amount | £90,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2023 |
| End | 09/2026 |
| Title | CyDIVE: Cyanobacterial Directed In Vivo Evolution system |
| Description | An in vivo directed evolution system based on EvolvR system (developed for E. coli, Halperin et al., 2018), which employs Cas9 nickase fused to a error-prone polymerase. The fusion protein navigates to the target region by Cas9-sgRNA complex, and the error-prone polymerase introduces point mutations in the downstream up to 130 bp from the target sgRNA sequence. To work in cyanobacteria and also to enhance the system, multiplexed sgRNA array and rhamnose inducible promoter are introduced. All parts are designed using STEP golden gate syntax for modular assembly and modification. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This system enables directed evolution of proteins in targeted and focused manner while growing cells under selection pressure, which facilitates multiple rounds of rapid and broad exploration of evolutionary landscape without laborious transformation and selection procedure. This is the first of such system applied for cyanobacteria. |
| Title | In vitro gene diversification system for photosystem II in Synechocystis |
| Description | This system is developed to introduce random point mutations in the reaction centre subunit D1 to create variant photosystem II library for subsequent screening for desired functionalities. The randomisation is done by error-prone PCR and the variant D1 sequences are assembled into the integrative plasmid backbones. The constructed plasmid library is then introduced to Synechocystis by high-efficiency natural transformation facilitated by pre-methylation technique, and resulting cells with variant photosystem II are used for screenings. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This system is based on molecular biology techniques widely used in cyanobacterial research community which indicates its proven robustness in terms of applicability for other research, and is shown to create several hundreds of thousands high quality photosystem II variants. Together with its tunable mutational frequency, this system became one of our essential tools in the current project "Directed Evolution of Photosystem Chemistry". |
| Title | Methyltrasferase expression system for enhanced natural transformation in Synechocystis |
| Description | Creating large size of variant libraries and screening them in high throughput manner is an integral part of directed evolution. To create a library, a gene of interest can be diversified in vitro and introduced to Synechocystis, our model organism which is a unicellular cyanobacteria. Synechocystis is naturally transformable, but the efficiency is quite low and it was identified as one of the bottlenecks. In an attempt to overcome this issue, a native methyltransferase (MTase) in Synechocytis was cloned and expressed in E. coli to bypass restriction-modification (R-M) system, one of its innate protection systems from foreign DNA, by mimicking the native methylation pattern. The concept of using MTase in Synechocystis transfromation was introduced by Wang et al. (2015), and we constructed a new MTase expression vector pSK01 which is compact (3.6 kb), medium copy number plasmid (15-20) expressing SGL_RS13525 under J23119 promoter. |
| Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
| Year Produced | 2021 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | This system enhanced the transformation efficiency by almost two orders of magnitude, effectively creating large size library of 4,000 - 10,000 unique variants. |
| Title | Ancestral sequence reconstruction data of photosystem II subunits |
| Description | This is a dataset of ancestral sequence reconstruction data of photosystem II produced from a comprehensive evolutionary analysis. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The dataset is if interest for plant biotechnology to build minimal model of photosystems adapted to unique light condtions, which may impact crop and algae photosynthetic enhancements. |
| URL | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/7/1270 |
| Description | Applying new inducible promoter to control expression of in vivo directed evolution system in Synechocystis |
| Organisation | University of Nottingham |
| Department | School of Life Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are constructing an in vivo hypermutation system in Synechocystis to create in situ variant libraries for directed evolution. This system is being designed to be able to mutate multiple loci/regions of interest at the same time in living Synechocystis cells. Controlling expression of the hypermutation system and following mutational rate on the target region is important, because accumulation of too many detrimental mutations in short time could exhaust living cell populations before exploring available evolutionary landscape. Also, the hypermutation system should be silenced when we found desired variants for correct genotyping. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof. John Heap and his lab provided two plasmids containing rhamnose inducible promoter as a candidate to control the expression of the hypermutation system in construction. |
| Impact | The system is in construction and the inducible promoter will be tested in coming months. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Biosensor and microgfluidics for directed evolution of photosystem II |
| Organisation | ETH Zurich |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We provide insights on evolutionary potential of photosystem II towards novel photobiocatalysis, along with variant photosystem II libraries. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Sven Panke and Dr. Martin Held provide expertise in designing biosensor and microfluidics system, and Dr. Adrian Bunzel in photoenzyme engineering. |
| Impact | Potential genetic systems are in discussion for custom biosensors for photosystem II activity, as well as a microfluidics system accommodating requirements specific to cyanobacteria (e.g. slower growth, illumination). |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Direct substrate screening of variant photosystem II in Synechocystis colonies by DiBT-MS |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Department | Manchester Institute of Biotechnology MIB |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are in the process of developing solid agar-based substrate screening methods to test novel biocatalytic potential of our photosystem II variant library in Synechocystis. Obtained variant colonies will be screened in Prof. Perdita Barran's lab to identify the products of potentially novel biocatalysis. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Prof. Perdita Barran and her group will provide DESI-MS platform in her laboratory in The Michael Barber Centre for Collaborative Mass Spectrometry along with technical expertise in colony screening and data analysis. |
| Impact | Interests of both parties on this project are confirmed and productive collaboration is agreed. Prof. Barran provided guideline for preparation of samples and pilot experiments, Dr. Cardona's group is working on developing substrate screening methods. This collaboration is empowered by different expertise of both groups including synthetic biology, biochemistry, chemical biology and analytical chemistry. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Evolution and characterisation of variant photosystems in cyanobacteria and other phototrophs |
| Organisation | Yale University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have contributed expertise on the structure, function and evolution of the photosystems. We are currently working towards the possibility of producing cryo-EM structures of our evolved photosystems. I will be contributing photosystem sample, and the collaborator, Dr. Christopher Gisriel will be doing the structures. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We started our collaboration by writing a paper together highlighting the state of the art on the elucidation of the structure and function of the photosystems. We're currently working on resolving the evolution of photosystems that are used in the far-red light acclimation response in cyanobacteria and are writing a paper on this. Biological samples for characterization are planned to be send to Dr. Gisriel towards the end of the year. |
| Impact | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-021-00857-9 This is a multi-disciplinary |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Imperial's Ocean Worlds Network |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Department | Department of Chemistry |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have set up an interdepartmental network, involving Physics, Chemistry and Lifesciences, within the topic of studying the habitability of Ocean Worlds (confirmed moons in the outer solar system with liquid oceans in their interiors at Jupiter and Saturn). The expertise of my life in deep-time molecular evolution and directed evolution makes us valuable partners. Currently, my team and I have contributed key perspectives, expertise, biological materials and methods for interdisciplinary research projects towards putting together a grant proposal for a Leverhulme's Doctoral Training Centre. I am the leader for Life Sciences in the partnership. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners have also contributed other perspectives from their respective feels in addition to specialized equipment towards performing experiments that simulate Ocean World conditions. |
| Impact | It is early days , but we're working towards putting together a doctoral training centre. Our first proposal includes 18 PhD positions to be hosted across the three departments. It is indeed interdisciplinary, involving physics, chemistry and biological approaches. All proposed PhD places are associated with specific interdisciplinary subjects involving at least two supervisors each from a different department. The proposal has been put forward to college review by Physics and we're awaiting a green light. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Imperial's Ocean Worlds Network |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have set up an interdepartmental network, involving Physics, Chemistry and Lifesciences, within the topic of studying the habitability of Ocean Worlds (confirmed moons in the outer solar system with liquid oceans in their interiors at Jupiter and Saturn). The expertise of my life in deep-time molecular evolution and directed evolution makes us valuable partners. Currently, my team and I have contributed key perspectives, expertise, biological materials and methods for interdisciplinary research projects towards putting together a grant proposal for a Leverhulme's Doctoral Training Centre. I am the leader for Life Sciences in the partnership. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partners have also contributed other perspectives from their respective feels in addition to specialized equipment towards performing experiments that simulate Ocean World conditions. |
| Impact | It is early days , but we're working towards putting together a doctoral training centre. Our first proposal includes 18 PhD positions to be hosted across the three departments. It is indeed interdisciplinary, involving physics, chemistry and biological approaches. All proposed PhD places are associated with specific interdisciplinary subjects involving at least two supervisors each from a different department. The proposal has been put forward to college review by Physics and we're awaiting a green light. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Long-term genome evolution in cyanobacteria |
| Organisation | George Washington University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | I have contributed with data analysis of a current sequencing project by Dr. Jimmy Saw (Assistant Professor). Dr. Jimmy Saw is a named collaborator in my fellowship and he is providing expertise in genomics pipeline and data assembly. I have a trip scheduled for June to GWU to work on our genomic data from the long-term evolution experiment. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaborator has contributed de novo genome sequence data and expertise in genomics. |
| Impact | https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evab264 This collaboration is multidisciplinary, merging genomics, geobiology, and biochemistry/biophysics of photosynthesis. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Origin and evolution of photosynthesis |
| Organisation | University of Bristol |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This is an ongoing collaboration with the group of Dr. Patricia Sánchez-Baracaldo at the School of Geographical Sciences. I have contributed expertise in the evolution of photosynthetic systems and genes. Dr. Sánchez-Baracaldo is a named collaborator on my UKRI FLF. |
| Collaborator Contribution | My collaborator has contributed expertise on the evolution and genomics of cyanobacteria and the application of computational methods. |
| Impact | This collaboration has resulted in three published papers. The latest of these is directly associated with my UKRI FLF: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2021.148400. Other outputs include an invitation to participate of the Bristol Geobiology Online Seminars, which attracted a broad audience. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Engaging audiences through Twitter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I maintain an active twitter account, @Tanai_Cardona, with 1300 followers (as of 8-MAr-2022). Although I started the account as a personal one, I use it now to engage with the public, the academic community and beyond. I use it as a tool to disseminate my group's research and accomplishment, and in addition to share recent science news or articles relevant to my subject, to share content important for diversity and inclusion in academia, to share job opportunities, and other forms of engagement. A popular twit could accumulate over 15k engagements. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/Tanai_Cardona |
| Description | Evolutionary molecular clock experiment to reveal origins of photosynthesis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release and photoshoot on our long-term genome evolution experiment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/227154/evolutionary-molecular-clock-experiment-reveal-origins/ |
| Description | Flash talk and poster presentation at 10th International Congress on Biocatalysis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presented a poster on the progresses made (e.g. pre-methylation system, in vitro gene diversification system) and future approach (in vivo directed evolution system), and selected for 5 minute flash talk in the main venue. The poster and the talk attracted wide audience and sparked discussions on novel catalytic potential of photosystems and future approach, along with possible collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Imperial Lates Online: the Sun - Ask Me Anything Reddit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I led an "Ask Me Anything" Reddit for the Imperial Lates Online: the Sun, during lockdown. This evebnt enable the wider public to interact with experts on a subject asking questions and discussing a particular topic. In this case, it was about biotechnologies to enhance photosynthesis and about the evolution of photosynthesis. It had over 150 "upvotes" and over 50 questions were asked and discussed during a two hour session. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Interview BBC Studios - Documentary pre-production |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Consulted for BBC Studios on the production of the NOVA documentary series, "The Universe". Interviewed by Poppy Pinock, BBC Story Producer |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Interview for Tiny Matters Podcast from the American Chemical Society |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to participate in an interview for the popular podcast by the Americal Chemical Society, Tiny Matters. This was for episode 31: How algae shaped our world (and maybe others in the future). The episde was link to Earth's week, which this year celebrated Algae. The podcast was released 5 April 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://open.spotify.com/show/5bfRJU0XPaGKJ7Os4vJQFk |
| Description | Invited Plenary -18th Int. Congress on Photosynthesis Research, Dunedin, New Zealan |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I presented the fellowship work at the main photosynthesis congress, with an audience of several hundreds. There was substantial interest in the possibilities that our research offers within the topic. It triggered many questions and a rewarding discussion. It also highlighted the work of Dr. Tom Kim, the postdoc associated to the fellowship. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Invited departmental Seminar at Free University of Berlin |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was an invited departmental talk at the Physics Department of Free University of Berlin. It involved mostly postgraduate students, research staff and senior scientists. It led to the establishment of a new collaboration with the group led by of Dr. Dennis Nurnberg (no outputs yet from this collaboration). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Invited departmental talk - Swedish Consortium for Artificial Photosynthesis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give a research talk for the Swedish Consortium for Artificial Photosynthesis. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Invited online departamental talk at George Washington University, Washington DC. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Invited departmental online seminar at the Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University. It uncluded audiences from undergraduate students to professors. There was a lively discussion at the end. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Invited plenary - 21st European Bioenergetics Conference, Aix-en-Provence, France |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was an invted talk at the premier bioenergetics conference in Europe. I presented some of my fellowship work. I was also invited to participate on a special debate session, which gathered a lot of interest. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Invited talk -- Photoredesign Consortium, University of Munich, Germany |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The work of my FLF programme has raised a lot of attention globably, and so I recieved an invitation to present our research for a large EU consortium that has an interest on our approaches. The talk involved a range of audiences ranging from UG to PG students, to senior scientists and triggered a nice discussion about the possibilities for the field that our work could enable. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Keynote Speech - 31st Western Photosynthesis Congress, California |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give the keynote talk of this annual conference on photosynthesis research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://wpc-2022.org/program/ |
| Description | Keynote Speech - Goldschmidt 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was nominated and invited to give a keynote speech at the Goldschmidt 2021 conference. One of the top conferences in the Earth Sciences |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://2021.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/2021/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/6298 |
| Description | Online seminar - Bristol Geobiology |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give a talk at the Bristol Geobiology online seminar series, organized by U. of Bristol School of Geographical Sciences and the School of Earth Sciences. This was streamed life to a broad audience. The live audiance included over 100 attendees at all education levels from high-school students to professor level. The was a lot of engagement from the audience who reported being mind-blown and a changed view or perspective of the field through social media feedback. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbhDLM3fgBs |
| Description | Personal Science Blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I keep an active science blog that I use to share some unpublished data from minor projects, and to comment on recent research activities of my group or others. It is written for an audience that already have some level of expertise but the content is freely and easily acessible online. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021,2022 |
| URL | https://cardonalab.uk/blog |
| Description | Photosynthesis could be as old as life itself |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Press release on our paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2021.148400. It was picked up widely by the media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/217553/photosynthesis-could-life-itself/ |
| Description | Poster presentation at International Congress on Photosynthesis Research 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presented a poster on the progress and future approach on directed evolution of photosystem II, which brought discussions on evolvability and new catalytic potential of photosystem II. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Poster presentation at NextGenBiocat 22 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presented a poster on progresses made in the project (e.g. pre-methylation system and in vitro gene diversification system), and attracted discussions on future plans and possible collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Poster presentation at SynBio UK 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presented a poster describing our approach and plan for directed evolution of photosystem II, and it led to discussions about suggestions and potential collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Talk, expert panel, and visit invitation to Novogene Europe HQ. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Novogene, a world-leading genomics company, invited me and my research technician, associated with the fellowship, Dr. Cordon-Preciado to attend their Open Day at Cambridge Science Park. I was invited to give a talk highlighting our research. This was attended by the president of the company and the Director of Cambridge Science Park, and other seniors. There was huge interest in our work and it is likely that a future partnership with the company may result not only in greater visibility, but also financial contributions that could make some of our research costs better value for money. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://web.novogene.com/Novogene-Open-Day-2023 |
| Description | The Brilliant Club Scholars Program autumn term participation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | The Brilliant Club is a charity focuses on narrowing the gap between underprivileged but bright pupils and highly competitive universities. I was a tutor of 16 pupils at London Nautical School, and I introduced my daily life as a researcher on the current project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | The Molecular Evolution Lab talk series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I organized and hosted the Molecular Evolution Lab Lockdown talk series as a celebratory event for the award of my UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. The talks had engagement from undergraduate and postgraduate students and involved lively discussion sessions, at Imperial. This series also helped consolidate several collaborations that have been are will continue to be fruitful. This activity raised my visibility internally, which have resulted in student requests for final-year projects, tutored dissertations or UROP summer placements. It involved the following speakers: 27 May, Dr. Patricia Sánchez-Baracaldo, Royal Society URF and Reader, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol. 24 June, Dr. Martin Homann, Lecturer in Sedimentology, University College London Earth Sciences. 29 July, Dr. Jimmy Saw, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University. 26 August, Dr. Christopher Gisriel, Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Chemistry, Yale University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |