Research

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Synthetic Biology underpins advances in the bioeconomy

Biological systems - including the simplest cells - exhibit a broad range of functions to thrive in their environment. Research in the Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology is focused on the possibility of engineering the underlying biochemical processes to solve many of the challenges facing society, from healthcare to sustainable energy. In particular, we model, analyse, design and build biological and biochemical systems in living cells and/or in cell extracts, both exploring and enhancing the engineering potential of biology. 

As part of our research we develop novel methods to accelerate the celebrated Design-Build-Test-Learn synthetic biology cycle. As such research in the Centre for Synthetic Biology highly multi- and interdisciplinary covering computational modelling and machine learning approaches; automated platform development and genetic circuit engineering ; multi-cellular and multi-organismal interactions, including gene drive and genome engineering; metabolic engineering; in vitro/cell-free synthetic biology; engineered phages and directed evolution; and biomimetics, biomaterials and biological engineering.

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Kylilis:2018:10.1038/s41467-018-05046-2,
author = {Kylilis, N and Tuza, ZA and Stan, G and Polizzi, KM},
doi = {10.1038/s41467-018-05046-2},
journal = {Nature Communications},
pages = {1--9},
title = {Tools for engineering coordinated system behaviour in synthetic microbial consortia},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05046-2},
volume = {9},
year = {2018}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Advancing synthetic biology to the multicellular level requires the development of multiple cell-to-cell communication channels that propagate information with minimal signal interference. The development of quorum-sensing devices, the cornerstone technology for building microbial communities with coordinated system behaviour, has largely focused on cognate acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)/transcription factor pairs, while the use of non-cognate pairs as a design feature has received limited attention. Here, we demonstrate a large library of AHL-receiver devices, with all cognate and non-cognate chemical signal interactions quantified, and we develop a software tool that automatically selects orthogonal communication channels. We use this approach to identify up to four orthogonal channels in silico, and experimentally demonstrate the simultaneous use of three channels in co-culture. The development of multiple non-interfering cell-to-cell communication channels is an enabling step that facilitates the design of synthetic consortia for applications including distributed bio-computation, increased bioprocess efficiency, cell specialisation and spatial organisation.
AU  - Kylilis,N
AU  - Tuza,ZA
AU  - Stan,G
AU  - Polizzi,KM
DO  - 10.1038/s41467-018-05046-2
EP  - 9
PY  - 2018///
SN  - 2041-1723
SP  - 1
TI  - Tools for engineering coordinated system behaviour in synthetic microbial consortia
T2  - Nature Communications
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05046-2
UR  - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05046-2
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/61268
VL  - 9
ER  -
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