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Research

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{Debalke:2020:10.1186/s13071-020-04078-2,
author = {Debalke, S and Habtewold, T and Christophides, GK and Duchateau, L},
doi = {10.1186/s13071-020-04078-2},
journal = {Parasites and Vectors},
pages = {1--9},
title = {Stability of the effect of silencing fibronectin type III domain-protein 1 (FN3D1) gene on Anopheles arabiensis reared under different breeding site conditions},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04078-2},
volume = {13},
year = {2020}
}

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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BackgroundMalaria vector mosquitoes acquire midgut microbiota primarily from their habitat. The homeostasis of these microbial communities plays an essential role in the mosquito longevity, the most essential factor in the mosquito vectorial capacity. Our recent study revealed that silencing genes involved in regulation of the midgut homeostasis including FN3D1, FN3D3 and GPRGr9 reduced the survival of female adult Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes. In the present study, we investigate the stability of the gene silencing efficiency of mosquitoes reared in three different breeding conditions representing distinct larval habitat types: town brick pits in Jimma, flood pools in the rural land of Asendabo and roadside pools in Wolkite.MethodsFirst-instar larvae of An. arabiensis mosquitoes were reared separately using water collected from the three breeding sites. The resulting adult females were micro-injected with dsRNA targeting the FN3D1 gene (AARA003032) and their survival was monitored. Control mosquitoes were injected with dsRNA Lacz. In addition, the load of midgut microbiota of these mosquitoes was determined using flow cytometry.ResultsSurvival of naïve adult female mosquitoes differed between the three sites. Mosquitoes reared using water collected from brick pits and flood pools survived longer than mosquitoes reared using water collected from roadside. However, the FN3D1 gene silencing effect on survival did not differ between the three sites.ConclusionsThe present study revealed that the efficacy of FN3D1 gene silencing is not affected by variation in the larval habitat. Thus, silencing this gene has potential for application throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
AU  - Debalke,S
AU  - Habtewold,T
AU  - Christophides,GK
AU  - Duchateau,L
DO  - 10.1186/s13071-020-04078-2
EP  - 9
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 1756-3305
SP  - 1
TI  - Stability of the effect of silencing fibronectin type III domain-protein 1 (FN3D1) gene on Anopheles arabiensis reared under different breeding site conditions
T2  - Parasites and Vectors
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-020-04078-2
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000529211900003&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-04078-2
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/91687
VL  - 13
ER  -