Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology is referred to as Life Engineering since it aims at modifying cells with the insertion of DNA circuits that carry out new, specific tasks. Possible applications are diagnostics, cure of disease, biofuel production, and environmental care. Research in Synthetic Biology is both theoretical and applied. Circuits are first designed on the computer. They are associated with mathematical models such that simulations can drive their wet-lab implementation.

On the computational side I am working on the development of a stand-alone piece of software for the design of biosensors in living cells. Biosensors detect one or more chemicals (inputs) in the cellular environment and, as a response, trigger the production of a clear output signal (e.g. fluorescence) or the activation of a pathway that establishes an interaction between the cells and the sensed chemicals. For instance, if the input is a pollutant, a properly engineered biosensor could lead to the degradation of this harmful substance.

Biosensors designed on the computer are implemented in my lab into the yeast S. cerevisiae. Yeast is the simplest eukaryotic organism and, as such, a perfect candidate to develop theoretical models and build biosensors that might be used later into more complex hosts such as mammalian cells.

Overall, building genetic biosensors demands a proper characterization of its basic components (promoters, mRNAs, and terminators) and the optimization of mechanisms for the regulation, in yeast, of transcription and translation processes (e.g. CRISPR-Cas9, TAL effectors, riboswitches, PUF proteins). These are two important research directions in my Synthetic Biology lab.