Aderibigbe, Falade: Co-evolution of the Biosphere and Geosphere: Times, Metabolism, and Rocks
Title: Co-evolution of the Biosphere and Geosphere: Times, Metabolism, and Rocks
Name: Falade Aderibigbe
Home Institute: New Jersey City University
Programs: RISE program, INSPIRE Postdoctoral Research and Education Program
Other contributors: Isabel Lopez, Nolan Fehon, Jenna Bingham, Justin Nam, Kenneth McGuinness and Vikas Nanda
Abstract: The origins of proteins and the history of bio catalysis have been a long standing question in the scientific community. Breaking down proteins into microenvironment have been a way to study how catalysis evolved in deep time. Proteins and metals are both important to biochemical pathway. We hypothesized that the distance between disjoint metal-binding regions within oxidoreductase sequences have incrementally increased to ensure protein stability as metabolic needs became more diverse as species evolved to adapt to increasingly oxidizing planet. We constructed Gene trees (Sequences from microenvironments, and species), Species trees and found Location and Alignments of metal binding amino acids in sequences of microenvironments. The length of sequence between metal binding regions is expected to increase proportionally to the importance within a metabolic pathway. Importance of genes within a pathway will be estimated based on the number of pathways that lead to the same metabolite as well as if additional proteins can also fulfill the same function.
Biography: My name is Falade Aderibigbe. I’m a student at New Jersey City University majoring in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. I love science, that’s my inspiration. My future goal is to be a Medical Doctor and also a researcher so I can be able to do research and help my community. After my undergraduate education, I’m planning to take the MCAT and apply for an MD/PhD program at any of the prestigious schools in the USA.