About
Over eons, nature has adapted to changes in environments all over our planet. This process (called evolution) is the mechanism by which biological molecules such as DNA, RNA and proteins acquire changes, leading to organisms that are best adapted to their environments. All of life as we know it derives from this mechanism, but evolution has taken billions of years to innovate and create the diversity of molecules we see all around us.
Compared to the time that Nature has had to refine biological systems, humanity has affected monumental changes to the environment in what seems like the blink of an eye. These changes are among the most pressing problems of our time, including climate change, antibiotics resistance, plastics accumulation, and many others. Nature simply cannot adapt quickly enough to ameliorate these issues.
In an effort to solve these crises, research in the Badran Lab expedites the process of Darwinian evolution to allow biological systems to innovate much faster than nature does. We apply these rapid evolutionary technologies to create new DNA, RNA and proteins that have new functions never before seen in nature, which in turn allows us to develop unique strategies to solve these looking global issues. Broadly, our research aims to fundamentally address current or future natural disasters using sustainable, biologically-driven strategies. Our work also focuses on biomedical, materials, and environmental elements that we believe are essential for humanity’s continued prosperity.
Joined
October 2023
