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Guto Rhys

Dr Guto Rhys

(he/him)

Lecturer in Biological Chemistry

School of Chemistry

cymraeg
Welsh speaking
Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

The Rhys lab is interested in designing new, and engineering existing, peptides and proteins. The latest developments in experimental methods and computational algorithms enable us to develop new peptides and proteins that do not exist in nature. We are developing a team of highly interdisciplinary scientists to tackle some of the unmet challenges that society faces. These include developing new therapeutics for diseases that are currently difficult to treat, and new enzymes to replace chemical reactions that are bad for the environment.

Our lab is always open to new collaborations. Our lab is also a supportive environment that cares about the development of its students and staff. We welcome anyone regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. We are open to anyone looking to contribute to making the lab a diverse, inclusive and friendly environment.

For up-to-date information please visit www.rhyslab.com

Publication

2023

2022

2021

2019

2018

Articles

Research

New-to-nature biocatalysis

Since the beginning of the research group in 2023, our main research area is within biocatalysis, where we wish to design and engineer enzymes that can catalyse chemical reactions that are rarely or never observed in nature. To achieve this, we are developing artificial metalloenzymes, which are proteins that contain non-natural metals or metal-containing cofactors. These abiological cofactors can catalyse new-to-nature chemical transformations. We expect that we can go beyond what is achievable with organic chemistry or natural enzymes alone, to deliver a sustainable route to the production of fine chemicals based on renewable feedstocks.

Currently active grant

EPSRC New Investigator Award  Stereoselective synthesis of biaryl compounds catalysed by artificial metalloenzymes

 

For more information on specific projects available with Dr Guto Rhys please review the Catalysis and interfacial science section of our reseach project themes.

Teaching

Module lead

CH5110 Year 1 Chemistry Foundation Practical

Contributor

CH4305 Macromolecules of life

 

 

Supervisions

In the Rhys lab we train people to have a highly diverse skillset, which will make them highly employable when taking the next step in their career. Skills that members of the team routinely employ include:

  • Recombinant protein expression
  • Computational protein design
  • Organic synthesis
  • Biocatalysis
  • Green chemistry
  • Structural biology
  • Enzyme engineering
  • High-throughput screening using robotics
  • Programming 

Current supervision

Benjamin Orton

Benjamin Orton

Graduate Demonstrator

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Protein design and engineering
  • Proteins and peptides
  • Organic chemistry
  • Bioinformatics and computational biology
  • Environmental biotechnology