Kate Adamala

Kate Adamala
Alma mater	University of Warsaw ; Roma Tre University 'Harvard University
Scientific career
Fields	Synthetic biology Astrobiology Bioengineering
Institutions	University of Minnesota
Doctoral advisor	Jack Szostak and Pier Luigi Luisi
Other academic advisors	Ed Boyden
Website	protobiology.org

Katarzyna (Kate) P Adamala is an American synthetic biologist and a professor of genetics at the University of Minnesota.^[1][2][3]

Research

Adamala's work includes contributions to the field of astrobiology, synthetic cell engineering^[4] and biocomputing.^[5]

Her research on prebiotic RNA replication provided an experimental scenario for the RNA world hypothesis of the origin of life.^[6] She has worked on constructing liposome bioreactor synthetic cells.^[7]

She is a founder and steering group member of the Build-a-Cell Initiative, an international collaboration for creation of synthetic live cells.^[8][9] She is a co-founder of synthetic cell company Synlife.^[10] Adamala and Szostak demonstrated non enzymatic RNA replication in primitive protocells is only possibly in presence of weak cation chelator like citric acid, providing further evidence for central role of citric acid in primordial metabolism. doi:10.1126/science.1241888

In 2017 Adamala gave a TEDx talk entitled Life but not Alive about how and why humans can create synthetic cells.^[11]

Selected Publications

• Engineering genetic circuit interactions within and between synthetic minimal cells (2016)
• Programmable RNA-binding protein composed of repeats of a single modular unit (2016)
• Collaboration between primitive cell membranes and soluble catalysts (2016)
• A simple physical mechanism enables homeostasis in primitive cells (2016)
• Generation of Functional RNAs from Inactive Oligonucleotide Complexes by Non-enzymatic Primer Extension (2013)
• Non-enzymatic template-directed RNA synthesis inside model protocells (2013)^[12]

References

1. "UMn CBS". Retrieved 10 Dec 2019.
2. "Microsoft Academic". Retrieved 10 Dec 2019.^{[dead link‍]}
3. "ORCID Adamala". Retrieved 10 Dec 2019.
4. Service, R. F. (2013). "The Life Force". Science. 342 (6162): 1032–1034. doi:10.1126/science.342.6162.1032. PMID 24288312.
5. "Biology could be the future of data storage". Biofuels Digest. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 10 Dec 2019.
6. Müller, Ulrich F.; Tor, Yitzhak (2014). "Citric Acid and the RNA World". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 53 (21): 5245–5247. doi:10.1002/anie.201400847. PMC 4357230. PMID 24828228.
7. Adamala, Katarzyna P.; Martin-Alarcon, Daniel A.; Guthrie-Honea, Katriona R.; Boyden, Edward S. (2017). "Engineering genetic circuit interactions within and between synthetic minimal cells". Nature Chemistry. 9 (5): 431–439. Bibcode:2017NatCh...9..431A. doi:10.1038/nchem.2644. PMC 5407321. PMID 28430194.
8. "Build-a-Cell". Build-a-cell. Retrieved 10 Dec 2019.
9. Callaway, Ewen (2016). "'Minimal' cell raises stakes in race to harness synthetic life". Nature. 531 (7596): 557–558. Bibcode:2016Natur.531..557C. doi:10.1038/531557a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 27029256.
10. "Synlife Bio". Synlife. Retrieved 10 Dec 2019.
11. "Protobiology". www.protobiology.org. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
12. "Kate Adamala | College of Biological Sciences". cbs.umn.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-08.

External links

• Lab webpage
• Kate Adamala: Life but Not Alive TEDx talk
• Mindscape Podcast Kate Adamala on Creating Synthetic Life
• Kate Adamala: Breakthrough Discuss 2019