Dr. Mark J. Olsen

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry

ANS 114E

806-651-2548

molsen@mail.wtamu.edu

 

Fall 2005 Schedule

 

CHEM 1411

Chemistry I

Section 1

MWF 8:00-8:50

CHEM 4223L*

Biochemistry I Lab

Section 1

T 2:30-6:30

CHEM 4323*

Biochemistry II*

Section 1

TTh 1:00-2:15

CHEM 5223L*

Biochemistry I Lab

Section 1

T 2:30-6:30

CHEM 5323

Biochemistry II*

Section 1

TTh 1:00-2:15

CHEM 7423

Life Science

Biochemistry

Section 1

TTh 8:00-9:15

CHEM 7423L

Life Science

Biochemistry Lab

Section 1

Th 2:30-4:20

 

*Stacked Courses

 

 

Educational Background:

 

Bachelors of Science: Pharmaceutical Science (University of Wisconsin)

 

Doctoral Degree: Chemistry (University of Texas at Austin)

 

Dissertation Title: High Throughput Directed Enzyme Evolution Using Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorting University of Texas at Austin

Supervisors: Dr. Brent Iverson (Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry) and Dr. George Georgiou (Department of Chemical Engineering)

 

Postdoctoral Studies:  Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the direction of Dr. Dane Wittrup (Department of Chemical Engineering)

 

Brief Description of Research Areas

 

1.    Directed Enzyme Evolution: Directed enzyme evolution is a method to engineer enzymes and can be performed on enzymes for which there is no structural information available. The basic concept is the gene is target with random mutagenesis, the gene is put into a suitable micro-organism, such as E. coli or S. cerevisiae, the cell library is screened, and the best enzymes are isolated. The process can then be repeated multiple times until an enzyme with the desired properties is isolated. In my laboratory, bacterial and yeast cell surface display are used to present the enzyme to the substrate, and then a BectonDickinson FACSCalibur flow cytometer is used to isolate the best enzymes at a rate of 1-2,000 cells/second.

 

 

2.    Bioremediation of Manure Lagoon Odors: In this project, S. cerevisiae are genetically modified with enzymes to degrade the specific organic molecules that cause foul animal odors. The concept is that these innocuous enzymes are added to common bakers yeast, and the yeast is dumped into a manure lagoon, initially in a test chamber in a proper biosaftey laboratory. The yeast grow, and then degrade the targeted organic molecules. Genetic engineering of the Bakers Yeast is presently underway.

 

 

 

Publications:

 

9.    Varadarajan N, Gam J, Olsen MJ, Georgiou G, Iverson BL. Engineering of protease variants exhibiting high catalytic activity and exquisite substrate selectivity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102(19):6855-60, 2005.

 

8.    Cochran JR, Kim YS, Olsen MJ, Bhandari R, Wittrup KD. Domain-level antibody epitope mapping through yeast surface display of epidermal growth factor receptor fragments. J. Immun. Meth. 287(1-2):147-58, 2004.

 

7.    Cochran JR, Kim YS, Olsen MJ, Bhandari R, Wittrup KD. Domain-level antibody epitope mapping through yeast surface display of epidermal growth factor receptor fragments. J Biol Chem. 279(29):30375-84, 2004.

 

6.    Olsen MJ, Gam J, Iverson BL, Georgiou G. High-throughput FACS method for directed evolution of substrate specificity. Methods Mol Biol. 230: 329-42, 2003.

 

5.    Matsumara I, Olsen MJ, Ellington A. Optimization of heterologous gene expression for in vitro evolution. Biotechniques 30:474-6, 2001.

 

4.    Olsen MJ, Stephens DL, Griffiths DS, Daugherty PS, Georgiou G, Iverson B.  Function-based Isolation of Novel Enzymes from a Large Library.  Nature Biotechnology 18:1071-4, 2000. 

 

3.    Olsen MJ, Iverson BL, Georgiou G. High-Throughput Screening of Enzyme Libraries. Current Opinions in Biotechnology 11:331-7, 2000.

 

2.    Daugherty PS, Olsen MJ, Iverson BL, Georgiou G.  Development of an optimized expression system for the screening of antibody libraries displayed on the Escherichia coli surface.  Protein Engineering  12:613-21, 1999.

 

1.    Daugherty PS, Chen G, Olsen MJ, Iverson BL, Georgiou G.  Antibody affinity maturation using bacterial surface display.  Protein Engineering 11:825-32, 1998.

 

 

Membership in Organizations:

 

American Chemical Society

Society of Industrial Microbiology