Research Highlight: Click Biology and superglues to empower biologics discovery and disease prevention
This talk will introduce Click Biology, an approach focused on developing rapid, modular, and highly specific protein interactions for use in synthetic biology.
Prof. Howarth will present the development of the SpyTag/SpyCatcher system, an engineered protein “superglue” that enables irreversible and programmable connections between biomolecules across a wide range of biological systems. Recent advances include variants that can be controlled by light, pH, or temperature, allowing dynamic regulation of protein assembly.
The talk will highlight how these tools can be applied to reformat antibodies, engineer cell signalling, and develop new therapeutic strategies, including applications in cell therapy, vaccine design, and gene delivery. This work demonstrates how modular protein engineering can accelerate the development of adaptable and scalable biomedical technologies.
Speaker Bio - Mark Howarth
Professor Mark Howarth is a Professor at the University of Cambridge working in the field of protein engineering and nanotechnology. His research focuses on developing modular protein systems to control biological interactions, with applications in vaccines, therapeutics, and cell engineering.
He completed his graduate studies in molecular immunology at the University of Oxford and the University of Southampton, before undertaking postdoctoral research at MIT, where he developed tools in chemical biology, advanced microscopy, and nanotechnology.
Previously a Professor at the University of Oxford, he was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Norman Heatley Prize for Chemical Biology. He is also a founder of SpyBiotech and Gastrobody Therapeutics, and his work has contributed to technologies now being explored in clinical and industrial settings.
His research has been widely adopted across academia and industry, and he is actively involved in entrepreneurship and translation, supporting the development of new biotech ventures.