Squire Booker

Squire Booker is an American biochemist at The Pennsylvania State University. Booker directs an interdisciplinary chemistry research program related to fields of biochemistry, enzymology, protein chemistry, natural product biosynthesis, and mechanisms of radical dependent enzymes. He is an associate editor for the American Chemical Society Biochemistry Journal, and an Eberly Distinguished Chair in Science at Penn State University.

Early life Booker was born September 9, 1965. He grew up in the segregated community of Beaumont, Texas. He was raised by his grandmother with the help of three uncles. Squire Booker's career was particularly influenced by two of his uncles. One worked at NASA and sparked his interest in astronomy, while the other was a math teacher who inspired his curiosity for solving complex problems. This led him to choose chemistry as his major in college, which combined his interests in math and science.

Education Booker received his B.A. in chemistry at Austin College in 1987, He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994, where he earned tenure in 2005.

Research Booker is a professor of biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology at Penn State University. His research focuses on enzymes containing iron-sulfur clusters which catalyze chemical reactions. He focuses on the Radical S-adenosylamethionine Superfamily (SAM) which is a group of enzymes that encounters radical chemistry in post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications of DNA.

He also researches many bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, which is found in the nasal cavity and on the skin in humans. S. aureus is problematic because it can mutate into the superbug methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). There is a protein called Cfr protein in S. aureus that binds to ribosomes which is where translation occurs. Many antibiotics bind to ribosomes which cause bacteria to die. However, when Cfr is expressed, it binds to the ribosome and allows the bacteria to stay alive which is known as methylation

This research has led Booker to discover that S. aureus expresses a protein, Cfr, which makes it resistant to many antibiotics. He developed mechanism of this methylation. Booker's lab also researches aspects of the bacterium, Escherichia coli. He determined the three-dimensional structure of the RImN protein from the bacteria. RImN is one of two proteins which makes chemical modification to different RNA molecules. Understanding this structure will help with other research of antibiotic resistance. As a result of his research, he is synthesizing new compounds to stop the bacteria's defenses which would make antibiotics more effective. The goal of his research to design compounds which can prevent infections due to drug-resistant bacteria.

Activism Booker is active in promoting diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) especially towards undergraduate and graduate students. He was a chair on the Minority Affairs Committee of the American Association of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Booker was the guest speaker at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 2019 Investiture of Doctoral Hoods and Degree Conferral Ceremony. 2019 Associate Editor for the American Chemical Society Biochemistry Journal 2013 TY Shen Lectureship in Biological Chemistry at MIT 2011 American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award 2006 co-chair, GRC on Enzyme Coenzymes and Metabolic Pathways 2004 Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering 2002-2007 NSF Faculty Early Career Award 1996-1999 NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Enzyme Research at the University of Wisconsin 1994-1995 NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow

Selected publications Booker has published over 100 scientific publications in journals such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Here are some of the most cited publications: