Dr. Roseanna N. Zia is the Wollersheim Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Missouri. Zia received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology for development of theory in colloidal hydrodynamics working with Professor John F. Brady. Subsequently, she conducted post-doctoral study of colloidal gels at Princeton University in collaboration with Professor William R. Russel. Dr. Zia began her faculty career at Cornell University. She subsequently moved her research group to Stanford University. Prior to coming to Missouri, Zia was a tenured professor in chemical engineering at Stanford with a courtesy appointment in mechanical engineering, where she developed micro-continuum theory for structure-property relationships of flowing suspensions, elucidating the mechanistic origins of the colloidal glass transition, and multi-scale computational modeling of reversibly bonded colloidal gels. Her group now combines these areas of research to shed light on the matter/life nexus, building the first physics-based model of the minimal biological cell. Zia received two Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) awards, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers. She has also been honored with the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Director of Research Early Career Award, the ONR Young Investigator award, the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, the NSF BRIGE Award, the Publication Award from the Society of Rheology, the Engineering Sonny Yau (’72) Teaching Award, and the Tau Beta Pi Teaching Honor Roll Award. Zia serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Rheology, and on the Advisory Boards of the AIChE Journal and the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science.

Keynote: Colloidal Physics Instantiates Life in Biological Cells

We aim to reveal how colloidal-scale physics instantiate life in biological cells. To do so, we have expanded our existing computational models for colloidal physics and biological processes in E. coli to build a physically- and biochemically-resolved, complete model of the JCVI-syn3.0a synthetic minimal cell, which we will use to probe the matter/life nexus. A cell comprising the minimal set of genes essential to life is an ideal proving ground for probing this matter/life nexus. This minimal system is encompassed in a well-known cell [1] with the simplest naturally occurring genome, Mycoplasma genitalium, and has been successfully isolated in a synthetic cell [2-4]. We believe there are life-essential physics that cooperate with these minimal genetics [5-8] — and some that bypass genetics [9] — to lead matter to life. Discovery and identification of the fundamental physics required to instantiate life in the simplest living cell would enlarge the picture of life currently framed by biochemistry and the Central Dogma. Our focus is on micro- scale physics that organize cytoplasm, communicate long-range dynamics, and help regulate combinatoric chemistry. This middle world [10] between structural and systems biology involves physical dynamics and spatial resolution outside current cell-modeling techniques. In non-living matter, mixtures of macromolecules in solvent are called colloids; or colloidal suspensions. To reveal how colloidal-scale physics instantiate life in the cell, we will build a model cell in silico, where conclusions drawn from the minimal set of genes, proteins, and other life-essential molecules implicate broad principles at the matter/life nexus. Three basic elements are required and will be achieved: a confining cavity; individual representation of physical shape, size, relative abundance, and crowding of biomolecules; and accurate, efficient representation of biochemical and physical interactions between biomolecules.

[1] C.M. Fraser et al., Science,  1995, DOI: 10.1126/science.270.5235.39

[2] D.G. Gibson et al., Science, 2010, DOI: 10.1126/science.1190719

[3] C.A. Hutchison et al., eLife, 2019, DOI: 10.1126/science.aad6253

[4] M. Breuer et al., eLife, 2019, DOI: 10.1126/science.aad6253

[5] A.J. Maheshwari et al., mBio, 2022, DOI:10.1128/mbio.02865-22

[6] A.M. Sunol & R.N. Zia, BioRxiv, 2022.

[7] D. Valverde-Mendez & A. M. Sunol et al., PNAS, in review. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.03.27.587083

[8] J.L. Hofmann et al., BioRxiv, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.30.510365

[9] T.S. Yang et al, in prep.

[10] M. Haw, Middle World - The Restless Heart of Matter and Life. Macmillan, 2007.