Artem Babaian

The Laboratory for RNA-Based Lifeforms (RNAlab) @ University of Toronto is a combined Computational and Molecular research team. Our passion is in understanding the interplay between RNA elements and Genetics. The primary domains where we interrogate this question are through the exploration of the vast evolution and biodiversity of Earth’s RNA viruses, and microplastic-degrading enzymes.

The growth of DNA and RNA sequencing data is staggering, outpacing Moore’s Law. Public databases now hold 120+ petabytes of raw sequencing data from more than 30 million samples, and this amount doubles every 24 months. Samples span from experimental cancer cells in a lab at the University of Toronto to anal swabs of wild penguins in Antarctica, and everything in between. Beyond their intended purpose, these data also hold genetic sequences from viruses and other genetic parasites in the samples. Yet they remain unanalyzed.

Our mission is to illuminate the epic tapestry of genetic diversity on Earth. To accomplish this, we develop state-of-the-art computational techniques such as Serratus and Logan which enable a new era of petabase-scale genomics. This allows us and other scientists to access and grok billions of dollars of sequence data, and investigate the evolution and ecology of genes across our planet.

For the discovery of RNA viruses: we focus on advancing the capability to find “Dark Viruses”, highly divergent and entirely uncharacterized genetic parasites such as the Obelisks. Beyond merely discovering fringe viruses and virus-like entities, we pursue understanding how these elements impact biology and health. For example, are “Dark Viruses” the cause for human diseases of unknown etiology, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, Crohn’s Disease, endometriosis, or cancer?

For the discovery of plastic-degrading enzymes: we focus on developing computational and molecular ultra-high throughput platforms to interrogate the evolutionary landscape of enzymes which can degrade or upcycle plastic waste. Microplastics are global contaminants and we are developing the solutions which can remediate these toxins at the terraform scale.