{{short description|American chemical biologist, enzymologist, microbiologist, and biochemist}} {{Multiple issues| {{BLP primary sources|date=October 2018}} {{Original research|date=July 2020}} }} {{Infobox scientist | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1980}} | citizenship = United States | website = https://www.microbialchemist.com/ | education = Williams College, Harvard University | field = Chemical Biology, Enzymology, Microbiology, Biochemistry | workplaces= Harvard University }}
'''Emily P. Balskus''' is an American chemical biologist, enzymologist, microbiologist, and biochemist born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1980. She has been on the faculty of the Chemistry and Chemical Biology department of Harvard University since 2011 and is currently the Morris Kahn Professor. She has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers and three book chapters. Since 2012 she has been invited to give over 170 lectures, has held positions on various editorial boards, and served as a reviewer for ACS and Nature journals among others. Balskus also currently serves as a consultant for Novartis, Kintai Therapeutics, and Merck & Co.
== Early life and education == Balskus was already interested in a potential career in science in elementary school where she conducted a science fair experiment on dilution and conservation of matter.<ref name="Ehrenberg 2018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/emily-balskus-sn-10-scientists-to-watch|title=Emily Balskus uses chemical logic to study the microbiome|last=Ehrenberg|first=Rachel|date=2018-09-28|work=Science News|access-date=2018-10-29|language=en}}</ref> Later in high school she was introduced to chemistry and was "captivated by the excitement of manipulating molecules in lab." Later in her scientific career this evolved into her fascination of how molecules are made in living organisms. In an interview for the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, Balskus reflects that she was likely inspired to go into science because all of her science teachers were women.<ref>Emily Balskus, 2019 Blavatnik National Laureate in Chemistry.</ref>
Balskus received a B.A. with highest honor in chemistry, summa cum laude, in 2002 from Williams College,<ref name="Cope" /><ref name="labsite">{{cite web|url=https://www.microbialchemist.com/people/emily/ |accessdate=26 October 2018 |title=Balskus Lab - People - Emily |website=Balskus Lab Website}}</ref> where she published her first paper on the synthesis of (-)-hennoxazole A in the lab of professor Thomas E. Smith.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Thomas E.|last2=Kuo|first2=Wen-Hsin|last3=Bock|first3=Victoria D.|last4=Roizen|first4=Jennifer L.|last5=Balskus|first5=Emily P.|last6=Theberge|first6=Ashleigh B.|date=2007-03-15|title=Total synthesis of (-)-hennoxazole A|journal=Organic Letters|volume=9|issue=6|pages=1153–1155|doi=10.1021/ol070244p|issn=1523-7060|pmid=17316014|url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/2964553 }}</ref> She then went on to the University of Cambridge as a Churchill Scholar where she earned a M.Phil. in chemistry in the lab of Steven V. Ley.<ref name="Cope" /><ref name="labsite" /> Balskus received her Ph.D. with organic chemist, Eric Jacobsen, at Harvard in 2008. There she proposed the novel idea of using an asymmetric catalyst to control chemical bond formation across large, cyclic molecules to form the favored stereoisomer.<ref name="the-scientist.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.the-scientist.com/scientist-to-watch/emily-balskus-pins-down-the-chemistry-and-metabolism-of-human-microbiomes-31232|title=Emily Balskus Pins Down the Chemistry and Metabolism of Human Microbiomes|website=The Scientist Magazine®|language=en|access-date=2018-10-19|archive-date=2019-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210083946/https://www.the-scientist.com/scientist-to-watch/emily-balskus-pins-down-the-chemistry-and-metabolism-of-human-microbiomes-31232|url-status=dead}}</ref> She then made the switch from organic chemistry to chemical biology as she pursued a postdoctoral fellowship from 2008 through 2011 at Harvard Medical School with natural products researcher Christopher Walsh. Together they collaborated on the biosynthesis of scytonemin, a "microbial sunscreen" used to protect microorganisms from harmful UV light.<ref name="labsite" /> In 2009 she became a member of the Microbial Diversity Summer Course at the Marine Biology Lab at Woods Hole and received training in microbial ecology and environmental microbiology.<ref>Emily https://www.microbialchemist.com/people/emily</ref>
== Research == The Balskus lab's research is centered on the human microbiome, which is the trillions of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms that live in and on us. These microorganisms include bacteria, protozoa, and viruses. Because of the abundance of genes in the human microbiome (200 times the amount in the human genome) many enzymes and/or their mechanisms have not been characterized.<ref>Marilyn Hair & Jon Sharpe. The Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health, University of Washington, 1/2014.</ref> Two of Balskus' aims is therefore to elucidate the mechanisms by which these microbial enzymes perform chemistry and to identify the specific microbes, genes, and enzymes responsible for key metabolic activities. A third aim is to develop biocompatible methods to control, manipulate, and study microbial chemistry in situ.<ref>Emily Balskus, 2019 Blavatnik National Laureate in Chemistry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_qFNuVJw8Q&feature=emb_logo</ref>
Bioinformatics is heavily applied in the Balskus lab in order to study the extensive amount of genes of the human microbiome. Bioinformatics is the "science of storing, retrieving and analysing large amounts of biological information."<ref>What is bioinformatics? https://www.ebi.ac.uk/training/online/course/bioinformatics-terrified/what-bioinformatics-0</ref> Examples of bioinformatic analyses utilized in the Balskus lab are; phylogenetics, sequence alignments, homology modeling, and DNA annotation. A key accomplishment of the Balskus lab was the elucidation of the enzyme responsible for the already known conversion of choline to trimethylamine, choline trimethylamine-lyase. They identified the gene cluster required for the cleavage of the C-N bond of choline and hypothesized that it coded for a glycyl radical enzyme (GRE), a class of enzymes not previously reported to perform that type of chemistry. Sequence alignments of the gene cluster and previously functionally characterized glycyl radical enzymes as well as homology models of the suspected enzyme revealed the presence of conserved key glycine and cysteine residues in the active site, supporting the hypothesis that the enzyme is a member of the GRE family of enzymes. This research is important because choline metabolism has possible links to fish malodor syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular disease.<ref>Craciun, Smaranda; Balskus, Emily P. "Microbial Conversion of Choline to Trimethylamine Requires a Glycyl Radical Enzyme." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 2012, 109, 21307–21312. doi:10.1073/pnas.1215689109</ref>
Another key publication, A prominent glycyl radical enzyme in human gut microbiomes metabolizes trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline<ref>Levin, Benjamin J.*; Huang, Yolanda Y.*; Peck, Spencer C.; Wei, Yifeng; Martinez-del Campo, Ana; Marks, Jonathan A.; Franzosa, Eric A.; Huttenhower, Curtis; Balskus, Emily P. "A Prominent Glycyl Radical Enzyme in Human Gut Microbiomes Metabolizes trans-4-Hydroxy-L-Proline." Science 2017, 355, aai8386. doi:10.1126/science.aai8386</ref> outlines an important research approach utilized by Balskus and her team; chemically guided functional profiling. First an enzyme family of interest is identified (in this case, the GRE family) and the amino acid sequences of all the members are compared. With the knowledge of the structures and functions of already characterized members of the enzyme family and the amino acid residues responsible, a sequence similarity network (SSN) is constructed to group together sequences of enzymes in clusters that share biological function. The SSN is used to interpret data generated by Short-BRED, a quantitative metagenomic analysis tool which uses the amino acid sequences of the enzyme family as input. Short-BRED identifies the unique sequence markers of each group of similar members and sequentially determines their abundance in the human microbiome. This tool can be used to identify uncharacterized members and prioritize their study based on their abundance.
Biocompatible chemistry is another integral strategy in the Balskus lab. These transformations are defined as "non-enzymatic chemical reactions that interact with the metabolism of living organisms in a way that alters biological function."<ref name="microbialchemist.com">Manipulating Microbes With Biocompatible Chemistry https://www.microbialchemist.com/biocompatible-chemistry</ref> They have been able to develop biocompatible cyclopropanation and hydrogenation reactions to alter the reactivity of microbes by using non-enzymatic catalysts, iron(III) phthalocyanine and palladium, respectively.<ref>Wallace, Stephen; Balskus, Emily P. "Interfacing Microbial Styrene Production with a Biocompatible Cyclopropanation Reaction." Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 7106–7109. doi:10.1002/anie.201502185</ref><ref>Sirasani, Gopal; Tong, Liuchuan; Balskus, Emily P. "A Biocompatible Alkene Hydrogenation Merges Organic Synthesis with Microbial Metabolism." Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2014, 53, 7785–7786. Chosen as a Research Highlight in Nature 2014, 510, 447. doi:10.1002/anie.201403148</ref> Another application of this approach used by Balskus is to rescue the activity of auxotrophic microbes with the use of transition metal-catalyzed reactions. This approach produces the essential nutrients that are needed for the growth and survival of the microbes by a non-native route.<ref name="microbialchemist.com"/> They were able to rescue an auxotroph lacking the ability to produce ''p''-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), a precursor to folic acid by using a ruthenium catalyst.<ref>Lee, Yunmi; Umeano, Afoma; Balskus, Emily P. "Rescuing Auxotrophic Microorganisms with Nonenzymatic Chemistry." Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2013, 53, 11800–11803. Selected as a Very Important Paper (VIP). doi:10.1002/anie.201307033</ref> The success of these aforementioned approaches suggests that microbial growth and activity can be controlled and utilized for various chemical production applications.<ref name="microbialchemist.com"/>
A recent achievement (2019) of the Balskus lab was elucidating the mechanism by which the genotoxin, colibactin, damages DNA. They found that a cyclopropane "warhead" breaks the DNA strands through an alkylation reaction.<ref>Wilson, Matthew R.*; Jiang, Yindi*; Villalta, Peter W.; Stornetta, Alessia; Boudreau, Paul D.; Carrá, Andrea; Brennan, Caitlin A.; Chun, Eunyoung; Ngo, Lizzie; Samson, Leona D.; Engelward, Bevin P.; Garrett, Wendy S.; Balbo, Silvia; Balskus, Emily P. "The human gut bacterial genotoxin colibactin alkylates DNA" Science 2019, 363, eaar7785. doi:10.1126/science.aar7785</ref> Other areas of research investigated by the Balkus lab is microbe drug metabolism. In an interview with ''The Scientist'' magazine, Balskus pointed out that many drugs such as digoxin<ref name="the-scientist.com"/> and byproducts of human metabolism can be degraded by gut bacteria, leading to lowered effects of these molecules than would be expected. Overall, the work done by the Balskus lab presents the foundational strategies needed to investigate the human microbiome and to understand how it affects our health. Their hope is to influence the development of therapeutic strategies that work not on the human host, but on their microbiome instead.<ref>Understanding the Human Microbiome https://www.microbialchemist.com/microbiome</ref>
== Volunteering == Balskus was a co-organizer of the 2019 Keystone Symposia<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Balskus|first1=Emily P.|last2=Turnbaugh|first2=Peter J.|last3=Wolan|first3=Dennis W.|date=2018-07-24|title=Announcement of 2019 Keystone Symposia Conference: "Microbiome: Chemical Mechanisms and Biological Consequences"|journal=mSystems|volume=3|issue=4|article-number=10.1128/msystems.00115-18 |doi=10.1128/mSystems.00115-18 |doi-access=free|issn=2379-5077|pmc=6060284|pmid=30057942}}</ref> on chemical and biological considerations of the gut microbiota. The major charge of this conference was to "...adopt other disciplines" such as xenobiology, ecology, and interspecies communication<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kenny|first1=Douglas J.|last2=Balskus|first2=Emily P.|date=2018|title=Engineering chemical interactions in microbial communities|journal=Chemical Society Reviews|language=en|volume=47|issue=5|pages=1705–1729|doi=10.1039/C7CS00664K|pmid=29210396|issn=0306-0012}}</ref> to improve the field of microbiome research.
== Awards and honors == {{div col}} * 2020 - Alan T. Waterman Award<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=102999|title = National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award}}</ref> * 2019 - Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award * 2019 - Laureate in Chemistry, Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists<ref>{{cite web |title=Emily Balskus wins Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists |url=https://cen.acs.org/people/awards/Emily-Balskus-wins-Blavatnik-Award/97/web/2019/06 |website=c&en |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2019 - Saltman Award Lecture, Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference<ref>{{cite web |title=Metals in Biology: Discovery, Dissection, Exploitation and Mimicry of Nature's Inorganic Chemistry to Secure the Future |url=https://www.grc.org/metals-in-biology-conference/2019/ |website=Gordon Research Conferences |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2018 - Science News "10 Scientists to Watch"<ref name="Ehrenberg 2018" /> * 2018 - Finalist, Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists * 2018 - Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award<ref name="Cope">{{Cite web|url=https://cen.acs.org/articles/96/i3/Arthur-C-Cope-Scholar-Awards.html|title=Arthur C. Cope Scholar Awards: Emily P. Balskus {{!}} January 15, 2018 Issue - Vol. 96 Issue 3 {{!}} Chemical & Engineering News|website=cen.acs.org|access-date=2018-10-19}}</ref> * 2017 - Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry * 2016 - Hirata Award, Nagoya University and the Hirata Foundation<ref>{{cite web |title=The 12th Hirata Award |url=http://www.itbm.nagoya-u.ac.jp/hirata12/ |website=Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules Nagoya University |publisher=Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2016 - HHMI-Gates Faculty Scholar * 2015 - Chemical and Engineering News Talented Twelve<ref>{{cite web |title=The Talented 12: Emily Balskus The Microbiome Code Breaker |url=http://talented12.cenmag.org/emily-balskus/ |website=c&en |date=20 May 2015 |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2015 - Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award * 2015 - Cottrell Scholar Award<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rescorp.org/awards-database/awardee/balskus-emily |accessdate=26 October 2018 |title=Cottrell Scholar Awards - 2015 |publisher=Research Corporation for Science Advancement |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019121824/http://rescorp.org/awards-database/awardee/balskus-emily |archive-date=19 October 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * 2015 - NSF CAREER Award<ref>{{cite web |title=Award Abstract #1454007 |url=https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1454007 |website=National Science Foundation |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2015 - ACS "Talented 12" Award<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://talented12.cenmag.org/emily-balskus/|title=C&EN's Talented 12|date=2015-05-20|work=Talented 12|access-date=2018-10-19|language=en-US}}</ref> * 2014 - MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bourzac |first1=Katherine |title=MIT Technology Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/innovator/emily-balskus/ |website=Technology Review |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2014 - Royal Society of Chemistry Natural Products Reports Emerging Investigator Lectureship<ref>{{cite web |title=Natural Product Reports Emerging Investigator Lectureship winners |url=https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=np&themeid=9e4d47e8-9cea-4334-8eb1-3dff68600f1f |website=Royal Society of Chemistry |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2014 - Sloan Research Fellowship<ref>{{cite web |title=Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships 2014 |url=http://web.mit.edu/dincalab/docs/NewYorkTimes_2014SloanResearchFellowships.pdf |website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2014 - Thieme Chemistry Journal Awardee<ref>{{cite web |title=Previous Winners |url=https://www.thieme.de/en/thieme-chemistry/thieme-chemistry-journals-award-previous-winners-107365.htm |website=Thieme Chemistry |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2014 - Damon Runyon–Rachleff Innovation Award<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.damonrunyon.org/our-impact/new-discoveries/entries/5116/Damon%20Runyon%20Alumna%20Emily%20P.%20Balskus%2C%20PhD%2C%20Wins%20National%20Blavatnik%20Award%20for%20Young%20Scientists |website=Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation |accessdate=21 April 2020|title=New Discoveries and Honors in Cancer Research }}</ref> * 2013 - George W. Merck Fellowship<ref>{{cite web |title=Founding Sources - Balskus Lab |url=https://www.microbialchemist.com/funding |website=Microbial Chemist}}</ref> * 2013 - Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences * 2012 - NIH Director's New Innovator Award<ref>{{cite web |title=NIH Director's New Innovator Award Recipients |url=https://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator/awardrecipients12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417234053/https://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator/AwardRecipients12 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 17, 2019 |website=National Institutes of Health |date=18 September 2018 |accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref> * 2012 - Searle Scholars Program<ref>{{cite web |title=Scholar Profile Emily P. Balskus |url=http://www.searlescholars.net/person/581 |website=Searle Scholars Program |access-date=2 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905090550/http://www.searlescholars.net/person/581 |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 September 2015}} [http://www.searlescholars.net/person/581 Alt URL]</ref> {{div col end}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balskus, Emily}} Category:1980 births Category:Date of birth missing (living people) Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Harvard University faculty Category:Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Category:Williams College alumni Category:21st-century American biologists Category:American microbiologists Category:American women microbiologists Category:21st-century American chemists Category:American women chemists Category:Living people Category:21st-century American women scientists Category:Searle Scholars Program recipients Category:21st-century American women academics Category:21st-century American academics