Christopher O. Barnes

Christopher O. Barnes (born September 23, 1986) is an American chemist who is an assistant professor at Stanford University. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he studied the structure of the coronavirus spike protein and the antibodies that attack them. He was named one of ten "Scientists to watch" by Science News in 2022.

Early life and education

Barnes grew up in Huntersville, North Carolina. He attended North Mecklenburg High School. As a teenager, he competed in the science olympiad. He was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was involved with the American football team. During his senior year, he was named the top student athlete. Although he had initially applied to study medicine, he changed his mind after being introduced to biophysics by Gary Pielak. He was a bachelor's student in psychology, and moved to chemistry for his graduate studies. In 2010 he moved to the University of Pittsburgh, where he started researching molecular pharmacology. He looked into eukaryotic transcription using crystallographic techniques and electron microscopy. After earning his doctorate, Barnes started investigating the structure of HIV and the antibodies that attack it. He looked to understand how the virus contacts/enters cells to better inform the design of therapeutics.

Research and career

Barnes was a postdoctoral researcher at California Institute of Technology when the COVID-19 pandemic started. He was working alongside Pamela J. Bjorkman, who challenged him to uncover the structure of immune proteins that would attack SARS-CoV-2. Barnes used high-resolution imaging to better understand coronavirus spike proteins and the antibodies that attack them. He used cryo-electron microscopy, and identified several antibodies that attach to the receptor binding domain on the coronavirus spike protein. He defined an antibody classification system to determine where on the receptor binding domain that the antibody attaches.

Barnes continued to work on antibody structure when he established his own laboratory at Stanford University. These antibodies target the N-terminal domain. He is interested in identifying antibodies that can attack all coronaviruses.

In September 2022 Science News named Barnes one of ten "Scientists to watch".

Awards and honors

• 2017 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hanna H. Gray Fellow
• 2022 Rita Allen Foundation Scholar

Selected publications

• Christopher O Barnes; Claudia A Jette; Morgan E Abernathy; et al. (12 October 2020). "SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody structures inform therapeutic strategies". Nature. doi:10.1038/S41586-020-2852-1. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 33045718. Wikidata Q100524175.
• Christopher O Barnes; Anthony P West; Kathryn E Huey-Tubman; et al. (24 June 2020). "Structures of Human Antibodies Bound to SARS-CoV-2 Spike Reveal Common Epitopes and Recurrent Features of Antibodies". Cell. doi:10.1016/J.CELL.2020.06.025. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 7311918. PMID 32645326. Wikidata Q97519832.
• Zijun Wang; Fabian Schmidt; Yiska Weisblum; et al. (19 January 2021), mRNA vaccine-elicited antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and circulating variants, doi:10.1101/2021.01.15.426911, PMC 7836122, PMID 33501451, Wikidata Q105098700

Personal life

Barnes has two sons.