Engineering biological timers and their applications

The project aims to engineer programmable molecular timers in E. coli for autonomous control of cellular actions, enhancing applications in bioproduction and biosensing.

Subsidie
€ 2.327.816
2024

Projectdetails

Introduction

Living cells are endowed with encoded programs that allow them to execute vital tasks and respond to relevant stimuli. The use of analogous (synthetic) programs has enormous potential, yet we are highly limited in our ability to program cellular actions over time. We rely on precisely-timed human intervention or on molecular oscillators that control repetitive processes, but we are still unable to program cells to autonomously execute custom actions at desired times.

Project Goals

I now intend to make a big leap toward this goal by producing control systems (molecular timers) and associated, ready-to-use applications for the precise and self-sufficient control of cellular actions over time. Specifically, I will engineer timer gene circuits into E. coli that compute time and perform desired actions at specified moments.

Features of Timer Gene Circuits

  • Timers will be highly programmable
  • Timers will be re-usable
  • Timers will be scalable

I will exploit their potential by using them for different applications, including bioproduction and biosensing.

Conclusion

In sum, I will develop the highly-needed, ground-breaking ability to measure and program time in cells. My results will unleash a myriad of new possibilities, both fundamental and applied.

Financiële details & Tijdlijn

Financiële details

Subsidiebedrag€ 2.327.816
Totale projectbegroting€ 2.327.816

Tijdlijn

Startdatum1-7-2024
Einddatum30-6-2029
Subsidiejaar2024

Partners & Locaties

Projectpartners

  • UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRApenvoerder

Land(en)

Spain

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