Current Position:
Professor of Chemical Biology and Fellow of Trinity Hall College (University of Cambridge); Group Leader (Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Lisbon)
Institution:
University of Cambridge
Discipline:
Chemical Biology
Recognized for: Groundbreaking research in the area of ‘bench-to-clinic’ bioorthogonal chemistry, which involves the control of tailored chemical reactions that can take place in the body without interfering with natural processes. This revolutionary translational research holds great promise for new breakthroughs in gene editing, labeling of specific proteins in living cells, and the development of new therapeutics.
Areas of Research Interest and Expertise: Bioorthogonal Chemistry, Cancer Biology, Targeting, Protein Chemistry, Nucleic Acid Chemistry
Previous Positions:
MSci, University of Lisbon, Portugal
DPhil, University of Oxford, UK
Marie Curie Fellow, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Germany
EMBO Fellow, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Switzerland
Research Summary: In chemistry, the term chemoselectivity refers to the preference for a reagent—a reactive chemical species—to react with one specific chemical entity over a group of alternative reaction pathways. Organic chemists have exploited this property to develop new catalysts and streamline the chemical synthesis of complex synthetic targets. Gonçalo Bernardes, DPhil, is a chemical biologist who uses his background in organic chemistry to harness the intrinsic reactivity of specific functional groups within biological macromolecules like DNA, RNA, and proteins to create biological probes and novel therapeutic agents.
Bernardes has developed a number of bioorthogonal tools—chemical species that can react in live cells without interfering with native processes—that allow the manipulation of biological macromolecules using small molecule probes. One example is Click-Seq, a method that can be used to edit and analyze RNA modifications directly in cells. Click-Seq uses “click chemistry” to install a small molecule RNA degrader directly on RNA to allow mapping and degradation of specific RNA modifications. Bernardes has also established a series of reactions that are chemoselective for lysine and cysteine amino acids within proteins, which allows him to selectively modify the most reactive sites within a protein. The site-selective chemical modification of proteins is a valuable tool for a variety of reasons, and has already proven useful in the modulation of protein activity, delivery of targeted therapeutics, and tagging with fluorogenic probes. These groundbreaking studies and others will continue to yield novel information and spark an endless stream of translational, bench-to-clinic, research.
"I am humbled and grateful that the work of my research group has been recognised with this award. We bridge disciplines to develop new chemical tools to provide fundamental biological knowledge and design the next-generation of targeted therapeutics."
Key Publications:
Other Honors:
| 2021 | Medalha Vicente de Seabra 2020, Sociedade Portuguesa de Química |
| 2020 | Young Chemical Biologist Award, International Chemical Biology Society (ICBS) |
| 2018 | European Research Council (ERC) 2018 – Proof of Concept Grant |
| 2016 | Chem. Soc. Rev. Emerging Investigator Lectureship 2016 |
| 2016 | Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize, Royal Society of Chemistry |
| 2016 | International Award, Belgian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences |
| 2015 | European Research Council (ERC) 2018 – Starting Grant |
| 2014 | European Prize, RSEQ Chemical Biology Division |
| 2014 | Silver Medal, European Young Chemist Award |
| 2013 | EFMC Prize for a Young Medicinal Chemist in Academia |
| 2013 | Ministry of Health (Portugal) for relevant services to Public Health and Medicine (Silver Medal) |
In the Media:
In the Pipeline – Pushing Through the Capillaries
Chemistry World – Tiny Mechanical Forces Deform Proteins in Living Systems for Faster Reactions
C&E News – New System Cuts RNA Using only Small Molecules
Chemistry World – Machine-learning Software Competes with Human Experts to Optimise Organic Reactions
Chemistry World – Artificial Intelligence Seeks out New Cancer Drugs
C&E News – Computer-designed Reagent Targets Lysine for Protein Modification