Lecturer: Prof. Michael Elowitz
Affiliation: Caltech
Abstract:
Many of the most exciting opportunities in
synthetic biology will require the ability to
predictably control the core cellular
pathways that enable functions like
epigenetic memory and intercellular
communication. These pathways play
central roles in development, physiology,
and disease, and are well-studied.
Nevertheless, we often understand little
about the repertoire of capabilities these
pathways can, and cannot, provide for cells.
Simply put, we often don’t know how to
“operate” these systems. To address this
issue, we have been developing a ‘build-to-
understand’ approach, reconstructing or re-
wiring these pathways using synthetic
biology approaches, and analyzing their
dynamic behaviors at the level of individual
cells. Here I will discuss new results applying
this approach to epigenetic memory
systems, developmental signaling
pathways, and cell state switching
processes. These results reveal
unanticipated signal processing capabilities
and show how they emerge from
architectural features of underlying gene
circuits, opening up the possibility of more
sophisticated modes of control in
mammalian cells.