Todd O. Yeates

Todd O. Yeates serves as a Research Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he leads an active laboratory at the UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics. His research program integrates molecular, structural, and computational biology to address fundamental questions in protein architecture and function, with significant implications for nanotechnology and bioenergy applications.

Professor Yeates' primary research interests include:

• Bacterial Microcompartments: Pioneering structural studies of protein-based metabolic organelles in bacteria, providing the first 3D views of shell proteins and mechanistic insights into substrate transport across microcompartments
• Synthetic Protein Design: Developing innovative strategies for engineering self-assembling protein cages, arrays, and nanomaterials with applications in nanotechnology and biomaterials
• Computational Genomics: Creating genomic context methods to infer protein function, including the discovery of disulfide bonding as a key stability mechanism in thermophilic archaea
• Protein Crystallography: Solving theoretical challenges in macromolecular crystallization, including space group preferences and racemic crystallography approaches

Analysis of recent publications (2023-2025) reveals a dominant research trajectory toward engineered protein scaffolds for cryo-EM applications, with significant focus on overcoming resolution barriers for small proteins. Concurrently, his group continues advancing bacterial microcompartment research while integrating computational tools like AlphaFold for hybrid structure determination. The work demonstrates a consistent theme of bridging fundamental structural biology with practical nanotechnology applications through rational protein design.

No scientific awards were documented in the available source materials.

The Yeates laboratory maintains an active research program supported by institutional resources at UCLA, though specific grant details and advisee information are not provided in the source text. The laboratory's extensive publication record and methodological innovations suggest robust research infrastructure and mentorship activities within the department.

Based at the UCLA-DOE Institute, the laboratory employs interdisciplinary approaches combining X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM, computational modeling, and synthetic biology. Current priorities include refining imaging scaffolds for structural biology, exploring fundamental principles of protein self-assembly, and applying genomic context methods to discover novel biological mechanisms, with ongoing emphasis on translating basic research into nanotechnology applications.