Researchers have devised a faster, more efficient way to design custom peptides and perturb protein-protein interactions.
Synthetic Biology and Biological Design
Cover Image Credit: Keating Lab
Image Credit: Lu Lab
Research in Synthetic Biology and Biological Design emphasizes elucidating engineering principles behind biological systems for creating novel therapeutics and biomaterials.
Mapping the brain at high resolution
New 3-D imaging technique can reveal, much more quickly than other methods, how neurons connect throughout the brain.
Engineering "capture compounds" to probe cell growth
Researchers develop a method to investigate how bacteria respond to starvation and to identify which proteins bind to the "magic spot" - ppGpp.
Computer model offers more control over protein design
New approach generates a wider variety of protein sequences optimized to bind to drug targets.
Designing synthetic proteins that can act as drugs for cancer or other diseases can be a tedious process: It generally involves creating a library of millions of proteins, then screening the library to find proteins that bind the correct target.
Regina Barzilay, James Collins, and Phil Sharp join leadership of new effort on machine learning in health
PhotMacArthur "geniuses" in machine learning and synthetic biology to serve as faculty co-leads; Nobel laureate to chair advisory board of new reasearch center.
Scientists Are Retooling Bacteria to Cure Disease
By manipulating DNA, researchers are trying to create microbes that, once ingested, work to treat a rare genetic condition - a milestone in synthetic biology.
Ingestible"bacteria on a chip" could help diagnose disease
Ultra-low power sensors carrying genetically engineered bacteria can detect gastric bleeding.
MIT researchers have built an ingestible sensor equipped with genetically engineered bacteria that can diagnose bleeding in the stomach or other gastrointestinal problems.
Timothy Lu seeks to combat disease by reprogramming biological systems
Synthetic Biologist hopes to develop treatments for cancer and other diseases.
In high school and college, Timothy Lu spent a lot of time programming computers. But as his college graduation approached, he turned his attention toward programming biological systems. The field of synthetic biology was just beginning to emerge, and he wanted to be part of it.
Kevin M. Esvelt
CSB Thesis Defense
Student: Vincent Xue
Lab: Keating
Title: Modeling and Designing Bcl-2 Family Protein Interactions Using High-Throughput Interaction Data