5:12 p.m., April 28, 2008--Brian Baynes, president and chief scientific officer of Codon Devices, will present a lecture on “Programming the Genome” at 10 a.m., Friday, May 2, in 102-103 Colburn Laboratory. Baynes will discuss how understanding, harnessing and enhancing the capabilities encoded in the genomes of natural organisms could help solve critical social problems, such as energy shortages, pollution and hunger.

The lecture will focus on the ways in which the developments at Codon Devices have allowed researchers to go beyond traditional approaches of mutation and selection to design simple biological components. Such advancements include new, ultra-high throughput methods for DNA synthesis, libraries of specially engineered DNA elements and two new cases of enzymes that carry out specifically scripted chemical reactions.

Baynes, a graduate of UD in chemical engineering, co-founded Codon Devices in 2004. He also has worked with Mobil Oil, General Mills, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Chemical Engineering Practice and several startups in biotechnology. His current efforts at Codon Devices are directed toward improving DNA construction technology and helping to design and develop chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology tools.

The event, sponsored by UD's Department of Chemical Engineering, is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be served before the lecture.

For more information, visit [www.che.udel.edu/seminars.html] or call Lisa Dougherty, secretary of the Department of Chemical Engineering, at (302) 831-2064.