Saurja DasGupta

Biography

Saurja DasGupta is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry with a concurrent appointment in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame. Saurja obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry at The University of Chicago, where he studied the structure and function of catalytic RNA or ribozymes with Joseph Piccirilli. His work delivered the first crystal structures of the Neurospora Varkud satellite (VS) ribozyme, the largest self-cleaving ribozyme in nature. Structures of the VS ribozyme, at different stages of catalysis, provided a framework to explain the biochemical data that accumulated over two decades, and in conjunction with computation, generated one of the most detailed models for RNA catalysis. Saurja moved to Massachusetts General Hospital to work with Jack Szostak (now at The University of Chicago ) for his postdoctoral research. At Massachusetts General Hospital, he explored the biochemical milieu that could have given birth to life on Earth (and elsewhere). He used evolutionary techniques to identify ribozymes that catalyze RNA assembly, a pivotal process in primordial biology. His work demonstrated that ribozymes can copy RNA inside models of primitive cells bound by prebiotically-plausible fatty acid membranes. One of his scientific dreams is to observe the spontaneous emergence of Darwinian evolution in a chemical system. His other passions are trying to make science easier to understand and fighting unreason and pseudoscientific thinking with a mixture of calm compassion and swashbuckling spirit.