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{Moore:2020:10.1101/2020.11.16.384693,
author = {Moore, SJ and Lai, H-E and Chee, S-M and Toh, M and Coode, S and Capel, P and Corre, C and de, los Santos ELC and Freemont, PS},
doi = {10.1101/2020.11.16.384693},
title = {A<i>Streptomyces venezuelae</i>Cell-Free Toolkit for Synthetic Biology},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.16.384693},
year = {2020}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Prokaryotic cell-free coupled transcription-translation (TX-TL) systems are emerging as a powerful tool to examine natural product biosynthetic pathways in a test-tube. The key advantages of this approach are the reduced experimental timescales and controlled reaction conditions. In order to realise this potential, specialised cell-free systems in organisms enriched for biosynthetic gene clusters, with strong protein production and well-characterised synthetic biology tools, is essential. The<jats:italic>Streptomyces</jats:italic>genus is a major source of natural products. To study enzymes and pathways from<jats:italic>Streptomyces</jats:italic>, we originally developed a homologous<jats:italic>Streptomyces</jats:italic>cell-free system to provide a native protein folding environment, a high G+C (%) tRNA pool and an active background metabolism. However, our initial yields were low (36 μg/mL) and showed a high level of batch-to-batch variation. Here, we present an updated high-yield and robust<jats:italic>Streptomyces</jats:italic>TX-TL protocol, reaching up to yields of 266 μg/mL of expressed recombinant protein. To complement this, we rapidly characterise a range of DNA parts with different reporters, express high G+C (%) biosynthetic genes and demonstrate an initial proof of concept for combined transcription, translation and biosynthesis of<jats:italic>Streptomyces</jats:italic>metabolic pathways in a single ‘one-pot’ reaction.</jats:p>
AU  - Moore,SJ
AU  - Lai,H-E
AU  - Chee,S-M
AU  - Toh,M
AU  - Coode,S
AU  - Capel,P
AU  - Corre,C
AU  - de,los Santos ELC
AU  - Freemont,PS
DO  - 10.1101/2020.11.16.384693
PY  - 2020///
TI  - A<i>Streptomyces venezuelae</i>Cell-Free Toolkit for Synthetic Biology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.16.384693
ER  -
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