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Success in Measuring Protein Interaction at the Molecular Level
Professor Tae Young Yoon
- Live observation of two protein interaction in molecular level successful- The limit in measurement and time resolution of immunoprecipitation technique improved by a hundred thousand fold
KAIST Department of Physics Professor Tae Young Yoon’s research team has successfully observed the interaction of two proteins live on molecular level and the findings were published in the October edition of Nature Protocols.
Professor Yoon’s research team developed a fluorescent microscope that can observe a single molecule. The team grafted the immunoprecipitation technique, traditionally used in protein interaction analysis, to the microscope to develop a “live molecular level immunoprecipitation technique”. The team successfully and accurately measured the reaction between two proteins by repeated momentary interactions in the unit of tens of milliseconds.
The existing immunoprecipitation technique required at least one day to detect interaction between two proteins. There were limitations in detecting momentary or weak interactions. Also, quantitative analysis of the results was difficult since the image was measured by protein-band strength. The technique could not be used for live observation.
The team aimed to drastically improve the existing technique and to develop accurate method of measurement on molecular level. The newly developed technology can enable observation of protein interaction within one hour. Also, the interaction can be measured live, thus the protein interaction phenomenon can be measured in depth.
Moreover, every programme used in the experiment was developed and distributed by the research team so source energy is secured and created the foundation for global infra.
Professor Tae Young Yoon said, “The newly developed technology does not require additional protein expression or purification. Hence, a very small sample of protein is enough to accurately analyse protein interaction on a kinetic level.” He continued, “Even cancerous protein from the tissue of a cancer patient can be analysed. Thus a platform for customised anti-cancer medicine in the future has been prepared, as well.”
Figure 1. Mimetic diagram comparing the existing immunoprecipitation technique and the newly developed live molecular level immunoprecipitation technique
2013.12.11 View 8752 -
Wearable computer follows suit of smart phones
KAIST hosts “Wearable Computer Competition” in KI Building, Daejeon Campus, on the 7th-8th of November
“Computer that controls smart phones with the movement of facial muscles” and 12 other wearable computers to be presented
As technology transitions to “Wearable Computers,” KAIST is hosting its 9th “Wearable Computer Competition.” The competition will take place over two days, 7th-8th of November, in KI building, on the main Daejeon Campus.
The “wearable computer” is designed to enable users to use the computer whilst moving by limiting its weight and size so that it can be worn as a part of the body and clothing. Wearable computers have been considered the future of information technology (IT) ever since smart phones and other miniaturized IT devices made an appearance.
The “Wearable Computer Competition” has been held since 2005 under the leadership of Professor Hoi-Jun Yoo from the KAIST Department of Electrical Engineering. It is the only competition in the nation where undergraduate students use their unique ideas and newest technology to produce computers that seem to be existed only in sci-fi movies and comic books.
A total of 15 teams out of 70 made the competition and went through a rigorous selection process based on written applications and interviews to enter the final. The teams at the final received USD 1,400 and IT devices including smart phones to produce a wearable computer.
KAIST increased the number of finalists from the last year"s 10 to 15 this year as the wearable computer industry is extending, and there is growing interest in the computer around the world after the launch of Google Glass and Samsung Galaxy Gear.
This year’s entries included a product for quadriplegic patients to control smart phones with the movement of facial muscles, which attracted public interest. The product in the form of a headband can be worn by quadriplegic patients or someone with limited hand movement. The user can activate the product by clenching their molars and move the mouse on the smart phones with the movement of muscles in their face.
Furthermore, a wearable band shaped device that can control smart phones with simple hand movements is also attracting interest. Broad hand movements of the user allows him/her to receive calls and take photos, and handshakes between users control sharing of files. Body communication can be used to protect private information without a password or locking the device.
In addition, gloves and shoes that can sense the user’s movement to play an instrument without the instrument being present; a cane for the blind that converts visual information to tactile; a belt that protects children from sexual crimes; and a game where the user can be Super Mario to play and other practical products are presented.
The chairman of the competition, Professor Yoo said, “As you can see from the launch of Samsung Galaxy Gear, wearable computers will follow smart phones as the leader of IT devices in the next generation.” He continued, “This competition and workshop is an opportunity to increase public interest in wearable computers and serves as a communication platform for experts to view the present and the future of wearable computers.”
The “Wearable Computer Workshop” will be held this year as well. The workshop under the theme of “the present and the future of wearable computers” invited Professor Kyu-Ho Park, Vice President of KAIST, as a keynote speaker to talk on “ubiquitous, fashionable computers.” Moreover, Samsung’s Dong-Jun Geum and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute’s Hyeon-Tae Jeong will lecture on the “trend and direction of progress of wearable devices” and the “technological trend and prospect of industry of wearable computers,” respectively.
To participate in the competition or the workshop, please visit the website (http://www.ufcom.org)
for further information.
2013.11.28 View 11103 -
KAIST announced a novel technology to produce gasoline by a metabolically engineered microorganism
A major scientific breakthrough in the development of renewable energy sources and other important chemicals; The research team succeeded in producing 580 mg of gasoline per liter of cultured broth by converting in vivo generated fatty acids
For many decades, we have been relying on fossil resources to produce liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and many industrial and consumer chemicals for daily use. However, increasing strains on natural resources as well as environmental issues including global warming have triggered a strong interest in developing sustainable ways to obtain fuels and chemicals.
Gasoline, the petroleum-derived product that is most widely used as a fuel for transportation, is a mixture of hydrocarbons, additives, and blending agents. The hydrocarbons, called alkanes, consist only of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Gasoline has a combination of straight-chain and branched-chain alkanes (hydrocarbons) consisted of 4-12 carbon atoms linked by direct carbon-carbon bonds.
Previously, through metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli (E. coli), there have been a few research results on the production of long-chain alkanes, which consist of 13-17 carbon atoms, suitable for replacing diesel. However, there has been no report on the microbial production of short-chain alkanes, a possible substitute for gasoline.
In the paper (entitled "Microbial Production of Short-chain Alkanes") published online in Nature on September 29, a Korean research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) reported, for the first time, the development of a novel strategy for microbial gasoline production through metabolic engineering of E. coli.
The research team engineered the fatty acid metabolism to provide the fatty acid derivatives that are shorter than normal intracellular fatty acid metabolites, and introduced a novel synthetic pathway for the biosynthesis of short-chain alkanes. This allowed the development of platform E. coli strain capable of producing gasoline for the first time. Furthermore, this platform strain, if desired, can be modified to produce other products such as short-chain fatty esters and short-chain fatty alcohols.
In this paper, the Korean researchers described detailed strategies for 1) screening of enzymes associated with the production of fatty acids, 2) engineering of enzymes and fatty acid biosynthetic pathways to concentrate carbon flux towards the short-chain fatty acid production, and 3) converting short-chain fatty acids to their corresponding alkanes (gasoline) by introducing a novel synthetic pathway and optimization of culture conditions. Furthermore, the research team showed the possibility of producing fatty esters and alcohols by introducing responsible enzymes into the same platform strain.
Professor Sang Yup Lee said, "It is only the beginning of the work towards sustainable production of gasoline. The titer is rather low due to the low metabolic flux towards the formation of short-chain fatty acids and their derivatives. We are currently working on increasing the titer, yield and productivity of bio-gasoline. Nonetheless, we are pleased to report, for the first time, the production of gasoline through the metabolic engineering of E. coli, which we hope will serve as a basis for the metabolic engineering of microorganisms to produce fuels and chemicals from renewable resources."
This research was supported by the Advanced Biomass Research and Development Center of Korea (ABC-2010-0029799) through the Global Frontier Research Program of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) through the National Research Foundation (NRF), Republic of Korea. Systems metabolic engineering work was supported by the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes on Systems Metabolic Engineering for Biorefineries (NRF-2012-C1AAA001-2012M1A2A2026556) by MSIP through NRF.
Short-Chain Alkanes Generated from Renewable Biomass
This diagram shows the metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of short-chain alkanes (gasoline) from renewable biomass.
Nature Cover Page (September 29th, 2013)
2013.11.04 View 13237 -
KAIST's classes now available to take from all around the world
Signed a partnership agreement with Coursera to provide millions of people with online courses in science and technology.
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a world-leading research university focusing on science, engineering and technology, joined a new, online platform for open access that serves the needs of Korean and global learners.
KAIST and Coursera, the world"s largest provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), agreed on October 14th, 2013 to partner for the provision of internet-based open learning, through which the university expects to reinforce its current education initiative, Education 3.0.Steve Kang, president of KAIST, was upbeat about the partnership."We know the benefits and importance of online education that will significantly impact the landscape of today"s higher education. Hopefully, our partnership with Coursera will expand our initiative to continuously provide quality education globally."
With its network of 107 prestigious partner universities and public institutions worldwide, Coursera offers 482 free online courses across a wide field of humanities, science, engineering, and business to 5 million students around the globe.
KAIST will be able to utilize top-notch online courses and lecture contents available on the company"s website. The university can also supply its online courses to the global community, allowing the faculty"s top quality lectures to reach hundreds and thousands of students and adult learners throughout the world.Incorporating advanced information and communications technology, KAIST has implemented a new, smart education program, Education 3.0, since 2012 to effectively meet the growing demands of creating a better and more interactive learning and teaching environment for students and faculty. Under Education 3.0, students study online and meet in groups with a professor for discussions and problem solving.
Tae-Eog Lee, Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching at KAIST, said:"We received a phenomenal response from students and professors to the courses made available under Education 3.0. For this year alone, we are offering 60 courses, such classes as calculus, general biology, basic programming, design and communication, bioengineering fundamentals, and logic and artificial intelligence."
Professor Lee added:"It has turned out that our education initiative is not only useful to our students but also quite popular among learners outside the university and Korea. It"s a great thing that KAIST can contribute to the world"s concerted efforts to provide equal opportunities for learning. At the same time, we look forward to seeing the benefits of MOOC-based content being used in our classrooms."
Founded in 2012 by two eminent Stanford University professors, Coursera has held a strong lead in MOOCs. Unlike the traditional online education model, open courseware (OCW), designed for simply sharing lecture materials including videos, slides, and data through the internet, MOOCs develop and evaluate courses, lecture contents, and delivery quality to meet high academic standards—In order to earn credits, subscribers (universities and students) are required to submit course registration, specification, and description; student attendance roster; homework and assignments; and assessment.
Daphne Koller, co-founder of Coursera, commented on the partnership agreement with KAIST:"We are honored to have so many brilliant minds working together to expand educational opportunities globally. To be able to offer courses from professors at the forefront of their fields to millions of people is truly remarkable, and our students remind us daily of the value of spreading this knowledge globally."
Among the partner universities and institutions are Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the National University of Singapore, the University of Tokyo, the World Bank, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
President Steve Kang (in the left) singed a partnership agreement with Dr. Daphne Koller (in the right), president and CEO of Coursera.
2013.11.04 View 10627 -
A powerful strategy for developing microbial cell factories by employing synthetic small RNAs
The current systems for the production of chemicals, fuels and materials heavily rely on the use of fossil resources. Due to the increasing concerns on climate change and other environmental problems, however, there has been much interest in developing biorefineries for the production of such chemicals, fuels and materials from renewable resources. For the biorefineries to be competitive with the traditional fossil resource-based refineries, development of high performance microorganisms is the most important as it will affect the overall economics of the process most significantly. Metabolic engineering, which can be defined as purposeful modification of cellular metabolic and regulatory networks with an aim to improve the production of a desired product, has been successfully employed to improve the performance of the cell. However, it is not trivial to engineer the cellular metabolism and regulatory circuits in the cell due to their high complexity.
In metabolic engineering, it is important to find the genes that need to be amplified and attenuated in order to increase the product formation rate while minimizing the production of undesirable byproducts. Gene knock-out experiments are often performed to delete those metabolic fluxes that will consequently result in the increase of the desired product formation. However, gene knock-out experiments require much effort and time to perform, and are difficult to do for a large number of genes. Furthermore, the gene knock-out experiments performed in one strain cannot be transferred to another organism and thus the whole experimental process has to be repeated. This is a big problem in developing a high performance microbial cell factory because it is required to find the best platform strain among many different strains. Therefore, researchers have been eager to develop a strategy that allows rapid identification of multiple genes to be attenuated in multiple strains at the same time.
A Korean research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) reported the development of a strategy for efficiently developing microbial cell factories by employing synthetic small RNAs (sRNAs). They first reported the development of such system in Nature Biotechnology last February. This strategy of employing synthetic sRNAs in metabolic engineering has been receiving great interest worldwide as it allows easy, rapid, high-throughput, tunable, and un-doable knock-down of multiple genes in multiple strains at the same time. The research team published a paper online on August 8 as a cover page (September issue) in Nature Protocols, describing the detailed strategy and protocol to employ synthetic sRNAs for metabolic engineering.
In this paper, researchers described the detailed step-by-step protocol for synthetic sRNA-based gene expression control, including the sRNA design principles. Tailor-made synthetic sRNAs can be easily manipulated by using conventional gene cloning method. The use of synthetic sRNAs for gene expression regulation provides several advantages such as portability, conditionality, and tunability in high-throughput experiments. Plasmid-based synthetic sRNA expression system does not leave any scar on the chromosome, and can be easily transferred to many other host strains to be examined. Thus, the construction of libraries and examination of different host strains are much easier than the conventional hard-coded gene manipulation systems. Also, the expression of genes can be conditionally repressed by controlling the production of synthetic sRNAs. Synthetic sRNAs possessing different repression efficiencies make it possible to finely tune the gene expression levels as well. Furthermore, synthetic sRNAs allow knock-down of the expression of essential genes, which was not possible by conventional gene knock-out experiments.
Synthetic sRNAs can be utilized for diverse experiments where gene expression regulation is needed. One of promising applications is high-throughput screening of the target genes to be manipulated and multiple strains simultaneously to enhance the production of chemicals and materials of interest. Such simultaneous optimization of gene targets and strains has been one of the big challenges in metabolic engineering. Another application is to fine tune the expression of the screened genes for flux optimization, which would enhance chemical production further by balancing the flux between biomass formation and target chemical production. Synthetic sRNAs can also be applied to finely regulating genetic interactions in a circuit or network, which is essential in synthetic biology. Once a sRNA scaffold-harboring plasmid is constructed, tailor-made, synthetic sRNAs can be made within 3-4 days, followed by the desired application experiments.
Dr. Eytan Zlotorynski, an editor at Nature Protocols, said "This paper describes the detailed protocol for the design and applications of synthetic sRNA. The method, which has many advantages, is likely to become common practice, and prove useful for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology studies."
This paper published in Nature Protocols will be useful for all researchers in academia and industry who are interested in the use of synthetic sRNAs for fundamental and applied biological and biotechnological studies.
This work was supported by the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes on Systems Metabolic Engineering for Biorefineries (NRF-2012-C1AAA001-2012M1A2A2026556) and the Intelligent Synthetic Biology Center through the Global Frontier Project (2011-0031963) of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning through the National Research Foundation of Korea.
2013.10.31 View 10743 -
Transparent Glass Wall as a Touch Game Media
Professor Woo-hoon Lee
- Selected as the “Highlight” at SIGGRAPH emerging technology conference
- “An excellent example of the transparent display panel in everyday life”
A joint research team led by KAIST Industrial Design Department’s Prof. Woo-hoon Lee and Computer Sciences Prof. Ki-hyuk Lee has developed a brand new concept game media “TransWall”, which utilizes both sides of the glass wall as the touch medium.
TransWall has been chosen as the “highlight” of 2013 SIGGRAPH emerging technology conference. SIGGRAPH is a world-renowned conference in the area of computer graphics and interaction technique, last held 21st-25th July at Anaheim, in the United States.
It all started with the thought, wouldn’t it be possible to turn the glass walls surrounding us into a medium for entertainment and communication?
TransWall utilizes holographic screen film inserted between two glass sheets with a multi-touch function, onto which the image can be projected using the beam projector from both sides. Furthermore, an additional Surface Transducer attached to the glass can deliver the sound and vibration.
What seemed as an ordinary glass wall has been transformed into a multi-sensory media that can transmit and receive visual, auditory and tactile information.
TransWall can be implemented at public places such as theme parks, large shopping malls and subway stations, providing the citizens with a new form of entertainment. This touch-interaction method can also be applied to developing a variety of cultural contents in the future.
Professor Lee said, “TransWall shows an example of near-future where touch-interaction method can be utilized with the soon-to-be commercialized transparent display panel in everyday lives.”
TransWall Introduction video (https://vimeo.com/70391422)
TransWall at SIGGRAPH 2013 Display (https://vimeo.com/71718874)
Picture 1. Both sides of the glass wall can be used as a touch platform for various medias, including games.
Picture 2. TransWall attracts the interests of the audience at SIGGRAPH emerging technology.
Picture 3. Structure of TransWall
Picture 4. Photo of TransWall from side
2013.09.19 View 10963 -
Thinking Out of the Box: KAIST Silicon Valley Innovation Platform
KAIST established a liaison office in San Jose, California, to support the entrepreneurship of KAIST graduates, students, and faculty who aspire to transform their innovative ideas into business.
The office, KAIST Silicon Valley Innovation Platform (SVIP), is located within the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) IT Center on North First Street in San Jose.
SVIP collects information and analyzes trends on emerging technologies; provides various educational programs on entrepreneurship and technology translation; offers opportunities to prospective entrepreneurs to engage with industry and research and government organizations; and assists Korean startups in accessing the US and North American market.
President Steve Kang attended the opening ceremony of the office on June 14th and encouraged KAIST alumni living in the US to share their ideas and technology innovations and transform them into business opportunities.
For more information, please contact Professor Soung-Hie Kim (seekim@business.kaist.ac.kr) from the Graduate School of Information and Media Management, KAIST.
2013.07.04 View 9578 -
KAIST hosts 2013 Wearable Computer Contest
2013 Wearable Computer Contest (WCC) will be held in early November. This year’s contest is hosted by KAIST and sponsored by Samsung Electronics.
Wearable computers are drawing attention in the IT world as a potentially convenient information and communication device for future generations, which are attached to clothing or on the body. As smartphones have grown increasingly more popular, various supporting devices are being developed. The IT industry is targeting wearable computers for future development. The main leaders of the field, Samsung, Apple (i-Watch) and Google (Google Glasses) are joining the race for its development.
European and US firms halted their research in wearable computers in the 2000s, but there has been a great burst of interest recently. Korea has been consistently taking on wearable computer research since 2003 and held the Wearable Computer Contest for the last nine years. Since 2005, the contest aims to promote leading edge technological research and Intellectual Property (IP) as well as cultivate a professional workforce in Korea. The contest has promoted world class research in the field of wearable computer technology.
Moreover, KAIST has increased support for its competing teams through Samsung sponsorship and is considering applying the technology from the contest into Samsung products. Winning teams receive 1,500,000 Korean won and Samsung smart IT devices to produce an actual wearable computer. KAIST has increased the number of members who can participate in the competing teams in the finals from 10 to 15 to provide more opportunities to develop wearable computers.
With the theme “Smart IT: Any-information for Anybody,” the 2013 Wearable Computer Contest requires competing teams to suggest an innovative idea which combines IT and fashion for wearable computers. Teams that pass the paper and presentation evaluation go on to the finals, where 15 teams will have four months of production period for the final evaluation in November.
The final teams also receive systematic education on ubiquitous computing, wearable computer platforms, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
The Wearable Computer Contest is holding an ideas contest pitched in a poster format. This contest evaluates proposals for wearable computers, and there is no requirement to enter the rest of the contest. Anyone can compete without having to physically make the product.
More information on the registration and the contest can be found at http://www.ufcom.org/.
2013.04.30 View 8359
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An efficient strategy for developing microbial cell factories by employing synthetic small regulatory RNAs
A new metabolic engineering tool that allows fine control of gene expression level by employing synthetic small regulatory RNAs was developed to efficiently construct microbial cell factories producing desired chemicals and materials
Biotechnologists have been working hard to address the climate change and limited fossil resource issues through the development of sustainable processes for the production of chemicals, fuels and materials from renewable non-food biomass. One promising sustainable technology is the use of microbial cell factories for the efficient production of desired chemicals and materials. When microorganisms are isolated from nature, the performance in producing our desired product is rather poor. That is why metabolic engineering is performed to improve the metabolic and cellular characteristics to achieve enhanced production of desired product at high yield and productivity. Since the performance of microbial cell factory is very important in lowering the overall production cost of the bioprocess, many different strategies and tools have been developed for the metabolic engineering of microorganisms.
One of the big challenges in metabolic engineering is to find the best platform organism and to find those genes to be engineered so as to maximize the production efficiency of the desired chemical. Even Escherichia coli, the most widely utilized simple microorganism, has thousands of genes, the expression of which is highly regulated and interconnected to finely control cellular and metabolic activities. Thus, the complexity of cellular genetic interactions is beyond our intuition and thus it is very difficult to find effective target genes to engineer. Together with gene amplification strategy, gene knockout strategy has been an essential tool in metabolic engineering to redirect the pathway fluxes toward our desired product formation. However, experiment to engineer many genes can be rather difficult due to the time and effort required; for example, gene deletion experiment can take a few weeks depending on the microorganisms. Furthermore, as certain genes are essential or play important roles for the survival of a microorganism, gene knockout experiments cannot be performed. Even worse, there are many different microbial strains one can employ. There are more than 50 different E. coli strains that metabolic engineer can consider to use. Since gene knockout experiment is hard-coded (that is, one should repeat the gene knockout experiments for each strain), the result cannot be easily transferred from one strain to another.
A paper published in Nature Biotechnology online today addresses this issue and suggests a new strategy for identifying gene targets to be knocked out or knocked down through the use of synthetic small RNA. A Korean research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a prestigeous science and engineering university in Korea reported that synthetic small RNA can be employed for finely controlling the expression levels of multiple genes at the translation level. Already well-known for their systems metabolic engineering strategies, Professor Lee’s team added one more strategy to efficiently develop microbial cell factories for the production of chemicals and materials.
Gene expression works like this: the hard-coded blueprint (DNA) is transcribed into messenger RNA (mRNA), and the coding information in mRNA is read to produce protein by ribosomes. Conventional genetic engineering approaches have often targeted modification of the blueprint itself (DNA) to alter organism’s physiological characteristics. Again, engineering the blueprint itself takes much time and effort, and in addition, the results obtained cannot be transferred to another organism without repeating the whole set of experiments. This is why Professor Lee and his colleagues aimed at controlling the gene expression level at the translation stage through the use of synthetic small RNA. They created novel RNAs that can regulate the translation of multiple messenger RNAs (mRNA), and consequently varying the expression levels of multiple genes at the same time. Briefly, synthetic regulatory RNAs interrupt gene expression process from DNA to protein by destroying the messenger RNAs to different yet controllable extents. The advantages of taking this strategy of employing synthetic small regulatory RNAs include simple, easy and high-throughput identification of gene knockout or knockdown targets, fine control of gene expression levels, transferability to many different host strains, and possibility of identifying those gene targets that are essential.
As proof-of-concept demonstration of the usefulness of this strategy, Professor Lee and his colleagues applied it to develop engineered E. coli strains capable of producing an aromatic amino acid tyrosine, which is used for stress symptom relief, food supplements, and precursor for many drugs. They examined a large number of genes in multiple E. coli strains, and developed a highly efficient tyrosine producer. Also, they were able to show that this strategy can be employed to an already metabolically engineered E. coli strain for further improvement by demonstrating the development of highly efficient producer of cadaverine, an important platform chemical for nylon in the chemical industry.
This new strategy, being simple yet very powerful for systems metabolic engineering, is thus expected to facilitate the efficient development of microbial cell factories capable of producing chemicals, fuels and materials from renewable biomass.
Source: Dokyun Na, Seung Min Yoo, Hannah Chung, Hyegwon Park, Jin Hwan Park, and Sang Yup Lee, “Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli using synthetic small regulatory RNAs”, Nature Biotechnology, doi:10.1038/nbt.2461 (2013)
2013.03.19 View 11138
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Education 3.0: a change from teaching to learning
On October 16th, educationalists and Presidents from research-oriented universities around the world gathered in Seoul to attend the 2012 International Presidential Forum on Global Research Universities, where KAIST introduced its new smart learning model ‘Education 3.0’.
Smart learning ‘Education 3.0’ allows students to learn from lectures given by renowned scholars through the internet and encouraged student to professor discussion. This technology was created to deal with the ever-changing classroom dynamics due to the advancement of IT technology.‘Education 3.0’ differs from the traditional teaching-based lectures in that it offers a platform for self-directed learning. KAIST is working to spread ‘Education 3.0’ by providing specialized classrooms and running an online learning platform that complements it.
This spring, KAIST adopted ‘Education 3.0’ in 3 courses and received high praise from students (a rating of 4.4 out of 5.0). Hence, the number of courses was extended to 10 this fall.
Through this gathering, KAIST hopes to develop cooperative connections between foreign universities to share learning platforms and contents. On October 16th, KAIST signed a MOU with Denmark’s Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) to provide a cyber-dual degree program using ‘Education 3.0’. Hence, students studying Web science and Digital Media in either KAIST or DTU can receive degrees from both schools without physically visiting them.
President Suh said that “‘Education 3.0’ provides a new paradigm of learning which moves from the tradition cramming method of teaching to self-directed learning” and that this model will help the globalization of KAIST by initiating global cooperation with foreign universities.
Over 60 Universities from 27 different countries attended the forum, including ULCA and Caltech from the United States, DTU from Denmark, University of Southampton and University of York from England, University of Queensland from Australia, Nanyang Technological University from Singapore and Tokyo Institute of Technology from Japan. Members from Korean Universities such as Hanyang University, Handong Global University, Sogang University and Sookmyung Women"s University also attended.
2012.10.25 View 11846 -
Systems biology demystifies the resistance mechanism of targeted cancer medication
Korean researchers have found the fundamental resistance mechanism of the MEK inhibitor, a recently highlighted chemotherapy method, laying the foundation for future research on overcoming cancer drug resistance and improving cancer survival rates. This research is meaningful because it was conducted through systems biology, a fusion of IT and biotechnology.
The research was conducted by Professor Gwang hyun Cho’s team from the Department of Biology at KAIST and was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
The research was published as the cover paper for the June edition of the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology (Title: The cross regulation between ERK and PI3K signaling pathways determines the tumoricidal efficacy of MEK inhibitor).
Targeted anticancer medication targets certain molecules in the signaling pathway of the tumor cell and not only has fewer side effects than pre-existing anticancer medication, but also has high clinical efficacy. The technology also allows the creation of personalized medication and has been widely praised by scientists worldwide.
However, resistances to the targeted medication have often been found before or during the clinical stage, eventually causing the medications to fail to reach the drug development stage. Moreover, even if the drug is effective, the survival rate is low and the redevelopment rate is high.
An active pathway in most tumor cells is the ERK (Extracellular signal-regulated kinases) signaling pathway. This pathway is especially important in the development of skin cancer or thyroid cancer, which are developed by the mutation of the BRAF gene inside the path. In these cases, the MEK (Extracellular signal-regulated kinases) inhibitor is an effective treatment because it targets the pathway itself. However, the built-up resistance to the inhibitor commonly leads to the redevelopment of cancer.
Professor Cho’s research team used large scale computer simulations to analyze the fundamental resistance mechanism of the MEK inhibitor and used molecular cell biological experiments as well as bio-imaging* techniques to verify the results.
* Bio-imaging: Checking biological phenomena at the cellular and molecular levels using imagery
The research team used different mutational variables, which revealed that the use of the MEK inhibitor reduced the transmission of the ERK signal but led to the activation of another signaling pathway (the PI3K signaling pathway), reducing the effectiveness of the medication. Professor Cho’s team also found that this response originated from the complex interaction between the signaling matter as well as the feedback network structure, suggesting that the mix of the MEK inhibitor with other drugs could improve the effects of the targeted anticancer medication.
Professor Cho stated that this research was the first of its kind to examine the drug resistivity against the MEK inhibitor at the systematic dimension and showed how the effects of drugs on the signaling pathways of cells could be predicted using computer simulation. It also showed how basic research on signaling networks can be applied to clinical drug use, successfully suggesting a new research platform on overcoming resistance to targeting medication using its fundamental mechanism.
2012.07.06 View 12981
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Education 3.0: Student Centered, Innovative Education
Education 3.0 is a teaching method development program aiming to raise the quality and efficiency of education through innovating the existing one-sided professor-student lecture approach.
Students will be able to study regardless of the time and space restrictions thanks to the IT-based curriculum, and will be able to conduct independent studies. Also, the lectures and contents will become internationalized through sharing them with other advanced universities. The lectures will take on an integrated format where students and professors will be discussing things together.
KAIST will be testing this program on the three courses of calculus, general chemistry, and freshmen design, and will further expand the use of this program.
Participants have been chosen from the freshmen this year, and 201 students have signed up for calculus and 163 for general chemistry, showing great enthusiasm on the new program. 48 students have been selected for each course out of the volunteers.
Class will take on both the form of an online and offline lecture.
Students must first log on to the KLMS(KAIST Learning Management System) and then review the lecture video, slides, multimedia, online lab, outside video resources, and other digital content prepared by the professors, and learn according to one’s own pace. Questions can be asked online, and assignments are also to be submitted online.
The offline lectures will take place at least once a week, and students are to discuss and question the material together and form groups to solve problems on their own. The professor and TAs are to interact with the students in the method seen as appropriate for the course.
For this Education 3.0 program, KAIST has installed a lecture system, video tracking system, A/V system, circular desks, glass boards, and other state-of-the-art facilities into a classroom in the Creative Learning Building. The KLMS(KAIST Learning Management System) which will serve as a learning platform has also been developed.
The reason why KAIST has been spending so much resources on education innovation has been that KAIST can not produce the talented personnel required by the future society with the current ‘one-way lecture’.
Tae-Eog Lee, the head of the Education 3.0 program said, “The current lecture method targeted for mass education can not created the leaders for the future society and companies. The lecture and education paradigm must shift in the science and engineering fields for the production of talented individuals with problem-solving abilities and creativity.”
He also stated, “The KAIST education 3.0 program is a student focused education method where the students who are the receivers of the education are the focus of the education, as well as a future-oriented method where the lectures are to become discussion-focused.”
While all the top notch universities are conducting education innovations, MIT has proposed an MITX program where it even gives students certificates for some classes just for listening to classes online and passing the test.
MIT is being evaluated as the leader of higher level education since through this everyone around the world will receive the chance to receive advanced education.
2012.04.04 View 9629