In this webinar Zoran Radić, Adjunct Professor at UC San Diego, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, shares insights into the catalytic core of Acetylcholinesterase and the new perspective on molecular analysis enabled by Virtual Reality.

Atomic details of molecular 3D structures reveal the basis for understanding the catalytic power of enzyme molecules. This is why the correct perception of macromolecular architecture is greatly facilitated by immersive visualization and molecule manipulation in VR.

When offending inhibitors compromise the optimally evolved geometry of enzymes finding out appropriate correcting tools becomes a challenge. Prof. Radić peek into the active center of one of the most powerful biological catalysts, the enzyme Acetylcholinesterase, and dissect approaches his research team uses to recover enzyme catalytic activity upon covalent modification by some of the most toxic inhibitors, such as Novichok organophosphate poisons.

Highlights: 
- Understanding spatial impaction of Novichok-inhibited acetylcholinesterase is greatly facilitated by VR
- 3D structures of Acetylcholinesterase help explain its catalysis and provide a template for structure-based design while revealing an unexpected paradox
- Structure-based analysis aided by VR accelerates the creation and refinement of antidotes against acetylcholinesterase poisoning

How can virtual reality be used as an effective teaching tool in chemistry education? We've invited Tina Qin, Semin Lee, Gareth Denyer, and Anna Lohning to share how they incorporated VR into their lesson plans. Our speakers cover the challenges and benefits of setting up a VR component in chemistry classes and labs. If you have questions you’d like to ask, please feel free to leave your questions in the comments section below.

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Tina Qin - Librarian for Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
Tina Qin and her colleagues are exploring embedding their library VR facilities into science curricula. She is looking forward to sharing her work on an innovative portable virtual reality chemistry lab applied in an undergraduate organic chemistry class that enrolled over 200 students at Harvard University last spring.

Semin Lee - Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Louisiana State University
Semin Lee uses VR in his organic chemistry courses, with activities that include interactive lectures and student presentations. Some excerpts of his class sessions can be found on his YouTube channel, and he looks forward to talking about how he’s incorporated VR into his lesson plans.

Gareth Denyer - Professor of Biochemical Education, University of Sydney Australia
Gareth Denyer has been an educator for over 30 years, and when not in the classroom he looks for new and innovative ways to teach and assess students. He looks forward to discussing his use of VR for lectures and student presentations, and the interactions he observed among his students as they explored concepts in VR.

Anna Lohning - Assistant Professor in Biochemistry, Bond University
Anna Lohning has spent over 14 years in higher education, and is a published author in discipline-based educational research with a focus on the use of 3D technologies to engage students and enhance learning outcomes. She looks forward to talking about the use of VR in education, including how she’s used VR in her medicinal biochemistry class.

Designing from "inside" the COVID-19 viral protein:
A novel chemical structure designed in VR

Featuring Andrey Kovalevsky, PhD
Senior R&D Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

We go over:

• Novel chemical structures for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 replication
• VR-assisted structure-activity relationships
• Why Oak Ridge National Laboratory combines neutrons and VR for structure-based drug design
•  How VR aids collaboration between structural biologists, medicinal chemists, and molecular modelers

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrey-kovalevsky-0b1a04154/
https://www.ornl.gov/

Jackie Von Salm, PhD is the Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer Psilera
We cover

• Why psychedelic research is so promising & what's on the horizon.
• Overcoming the challenges of communicating scientific research to investors
• Easy ways to improve spatial awareness of chemists and the impact that brings to the lab
• How Psilera is using Nanome to filter compounds

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvonsalm/
https://www.psilera.com/

Woody is the Chief Computational Scientist at Roivant Discovery and former CSO at Silicon Therapeutics. He shared the Roivant Discovery vision for physics-driven drug design and the role of virtual reality to maximize insights. It was an honor to host more than 200 inspiring and engaged attendees. We’re grateful to everyone who completed the polls and submitted thoughtful questions.  

https://discovery.roivant.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/woodysherman/

Nanome Webinar Series | AI for the Science Metaverse: how to accelerate drug discovery by using AI in VR featuring scientists from Iktos

In this webinar Alessandro Monge, SVP, Head of US Operations & Business Development at Iktos, and Iktos Application Scientists Brian Atwood and Rohit Arora shared insights on the applications of AI in drug discovery and the impact of VR. 

Iktos has developed two major technologies for use by chemists. Makya, a de novo design platform, enables users to generate new compound ideas with the support of AI. Spaya, a computer-aided synthesis planning tool, provides predicted retrosynthesis routes with a high degree of customization available so that users can find the retrosynthesis that meets their needs.

Iktos scientists discuss how these technologies can be accessed in VR and allow real-time collaboration on compound design and retrosynthesis planning.

https://iktos.ai/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandro-monge/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-atwood-26ab9b27/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohiarora/

https://www.microscape.xyz/

Delivering custom interactive tools, visualizations, and multi-user platforms for a wide range of 3D+ data types/formats

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-paul-francis/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kmcclary/

Experienced Blockchain investor and professional looking to build the future of crypto finance. Over 8 years in the Blockchain ecosystem researching crypto landscapes, specifically Bitcoin and Ethereum. Focused on helping bring blockchain technologies to the world, especially the unbanked.

https://twitter.com/cdcalvo01?lang=en

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cdcalvo/

Brandon is a Graduate Student Fellow in Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin

Check out his podcast here:
https://linktr.ee/gogglesOff
Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-malady-a00469133/

Gravity Sketch raises $33M
https://twitter.com/GravitySketch/status/1516493585834819597?s=20&t=nLGD-x5GyHLT2KVosnCM6Q

• more recently, designers have been building NFT objects on Gravity Sketch.

Built with biology  conference 

• https://www.builtwithbiology.com/

Pico Neo 3 Link Launch

• https://uploadvr.com/pico-neo-3-link-vs-quest-2-specs-comparison/

What is twitter’s place in the science metaverse?