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Faculty-Invited Speaker: Dr. Martin Weigt
June 10, 2024 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Dr. Martin Weigt from Sorbonne Université in Paris, France will be delivering a talk on June 10 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm in the MSL seminar room (MSL 102). This visit has been organized by Dr. Nobuhiko Tokuriki.
If you are unable to attend in person, the talk will be presented in a hybrid format, and we invite you to register at the following Zoom link: https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5MvduioqjsiHdCXZ3GJ28hmbNrCpvRwRshR.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Talk title: Exploring functional protein sequence space using generative probabilistic models
Abstract: Biology is transforming thanks to the rapid accumulation of more and more data; biomolecular sequences resulting from high-throughput sequencing are an example in case. Computational approaches, frequently inspired by statistics, machine learning and computational physics, help to leverage the rich but hidden information contained in these data. Using so-called generative probabilistic models (which are of high popularity in the context of text and image generation), we explore available sequence data to predict mutational effects in proteins and RNA, model their evolution and design artificial sequences. Interestingly, these approaches bridge very fundamental biological questions (e.g. sequence-function relationship in proteins) with evident applications in biomolecular engineering and design.
