The tasks of proteins include, for example, the catalysis of metabolic reactions, the response to stimuli, the transport of molecules, and the structuring of cells and organisms. Proteins are usually made up of a long chain of amino acids. The sequence of the amino acid residues in a protein is determined by the sequence of a gene, which is encoded in the genetic code of organisms. The largest of the approximately 20,000 known human proteins is Titin, which consists of more than 34,000 amino acids linked together and plays a role in muscle contraction. The analysis of proteins is complicated by a series of analytical and bioinformatics challenges, so that to date, only about 18% of the currently known 560,000 proteins in organisms have been detected.
Measurement of Life
In his lecture, Prof. Wilhelm will explain which technologies are used to determine the entire set of proteins in organisms, organs, or cells, under precisely defined conditions and at a specific point in time. He will also discuss how these measurements help to improve disease diagnosis, understand the functioning of drugs, or clarify fundamental biological processes. Special focus will be placed on the use of informatics methods such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, and how these both enable the measurement and analysis of the obtained data and elucidate the function and role of proteins. "The audience will learn what the current state of the art allows in the field of protein research, and how this is supported by the use of the latest methods in computer science," says Wilhelm.
Lecture Date: Thursday, November 30, 2023, 7:00 PM
After the lecture, all interested attendees are invited to ask questions to the speaker. The event will be moderated by Prof. Sara Leonhardt.
About the Speaker:
Professor Wilhelm (*1984) researches how mass spectrometry data can be better understood, made usable for the broader scientific community in the long term, and how insights from this can be useful for research and clinical applications. To this end, he develops platforms and tools that allow scientists to evaluate, analyze, and interpret their own data in an integrative way. He uses state-of-the-art methods in computer science, such as in-memory databases and neural networks.
Professor Wilhelm studied bioinformatics and scientific computing at Bielefeld University. After working at the Harvard Medical School at Children’s Hospital Boston, he began his PhD in "Computational Proteomics" at TUM in 2012. In 2017, he became the group leader of bioinformatics at the Chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics. In 2021, Prof. Wilhelm was appointed to the Chair of Computational Mass Spectrometry at TUM. Professor Wilhelm is a co-founder of the biotech companies and TUM spin-offs OmicScouts GmbH and MSAID GmbH.
About the Series:
The lecture series "TUM@Freising – Science Explained for EVERYONE" is organized by the Technical University of Munich in collaboration with the city of Freising. At regular intervals, the TUM School of Life Sciences presents its research in the form of a lecture aimed at the general public. A subsequent discussion with the audience is explicitly encouraged after each lecture. The series is designed to provide the citizens of Freising with direct access to scientific work at the Weihenstephan campus and offers scientists public input for their research.
More Information:
Further details on the event can be found at https://www.ls.tum.de/ls/presse/tumfreising/
Press Contact:
Susanne Neumann
TUM School of Life Sciences
Press and Public Relations
Scientific Contact:
Prof. Dr. Mathias Wilhelm
Professorship for Computational Mass Spectrometry
Maximus-von-Imhof-Forum 3
85354 Freising
mathias.wilhelm(at)tum.de