The Biophysical Interactome

Speaker: Professor Paul O’Shea, Chair of Biomedicine, Faculty of Health & Medicine, Lancaster University

Host: Professor Franca Fraternali

Abstract: With the emergence of the professional scientist over the last century or so, the former intimate relationship between the ‘elder’ disciplines within Natural Philosophy such as Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics together with their manifestations or applications in Engineering and Medicine, tended to become less ‘close and very much more compartmentalised. Movement across these discipline-intensive picket fences became increasingly difficult as the professional-era developed and became reinforced because such movement could be prohibitive to career development. Unfortunately, major questions in contemporary science are not easily addressed within the confines of such professional strictures. It now evident that interdisciplinary approaches are essential in order to both frame and answer some of the key questions in the biosciences.

I will outline two areas of my research in which cross-disciplinary approaches have proved essential to progress. The first will touch on the molecular physiology of membranes with examples taken from model systems to those in living cells. In particular, I will outline how we visualise molecular interactions with and within membranes. Secondly, I will outline how we are developing tools and techniques to study the totality of molecular interactions as part of the biomedical interactome. Both examples will include an interplay between theoretical (computational) and wet experimental strategies.

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