Jun 22, 2022; Talk
Nobelpreisträger zu Gast an der TU DresdenNobelpreisträger zu Gast an der TU Dresden: Sir Gregory Winter
Sir Gregory Winter (GB; Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018).
Harnessing evolution to make new medicines
Evolution – the adaption of species to different environments – has created an enormous diversity of life. Gregory Winter has used the same principles – genetic change and selection – for the directed evolution of antibodies. Specifically, he used „phage display“, a method where a bacteriophage – a virus that infects bacteria with its genes – is used to evolve new proteins. Today, this method can be used to develop targeted antibody therapies for specific diseases. Winter and his team used it to produce the first drug based entirely on an antibody in the 1990s, which was approved in 2002 as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Since then, the method has been used to develop other antibody drugs for metastatic cancer, autoimmune diseases and toxins, among others. For the phage display of peptides and antibodies, Sir Gregory Winter, together with George P. Smith was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
All lectures are public, in English and take place in the Audimax of the Central lecture Hall at TU Dresden. Admission is free of charge. tud.de/mn/nobel