Dr. Josh Leonard Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Our group creates novel biological systems that perform customized, sophisticated functions for applications in biotechnology and medicine. Using the tools of synthetic biology, protein and biomolecule engineering, systems biology, and gene therapy, we develop technologies for manipulating and coordinating complex multicellular functions. A central area of interest for our group is controlling the function of a complex biological network - the human immune system – by engineering novel biomolecules and programmable cell-based “devices” to create novel, customized immune functions. By enabling clinicians to modify local immune responses in a patient- and disease-specific fashion, we are overcoming barriers to treatment for conditions ranging from cancer and chronic infections to autoimmune disease and transplant rejection.

Our group creates novel biological systems that perform customized, sophisticated functions for applications in biotechnology and medicine. Using the tools of synthetic biology, protein and biomolecule engineering, systems biology, and gene therapy, we develop technologies for manipulating and coordinating complex multicellular functions. A central area of interest for our group is controlling the function of a complex biological network - the human immune system – by engineering novel biomolecules and programmable cell-based “devices” to create novel, customized immune functions. By enabling clinicians to modify local immune responses in a patient- and disease-specific fashion, we are overcoming barriers to treatment for conditions ranging from cancer and chronic infections to autoimmune disease and transplant rejection. link

Our research aims to engineer biological systems for compelling applications in medicine and biotechnology. We focus on cell-free systems, with particular emphasis on protein synthesis and metabolism. Engineering cell-free systems both tests our understanding of how life works and generates useful, cost-effective factories for manufacturing human therapeutics and valuable biochemicals that are difficult to make in vivo. Our approach is to integrate fundamental research and engineering design principles with technology development.

Our interdisciplinary efforts take advantage of synergies at the crossroads of biological and engineering science. They represent a bottom-up approach to synthetic biology. The key idea is that design and construction of biological systems will become easier and more reliable if we can develop foundational technologies that partition biology into simple modular pieces that we can directly manipulate and control. To this end, it is desirable to reduce the complexity of existing biological systems and remove unnecessary overhead (e.g. unnecessary genes and evolutionary baggage). Cell-free systems, which are decoupled from the genetic architecture of the cell, offer a unique platform to address this need. They reduce complexity, lack structural boundaries, are free from cell viability constraints, and can direct catalytic resources towards a single objective. As a result, cell-free systems promise to catalyze a new paradigm for studying, tuning, and controlling life. link

Dr. Mike Jewett Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Dr. Keith Tyo Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

What we do Microbes must cope with harsh, rapidly changing environments to survive. To do this, microbes have developed sophisticated mechanisms to (a) sense the changes in the environment, and (b) respond quickly to these changes to protect itself from harm or capitalize on an opportunity. Our lab seeks to rewire these fundamental input/output relationships to program cells to do useful things for mankind in a paradigm called synthetic biology. Inputs: We study methods to modify existing environmental detection sensors in yeast and modify them to detect new analytes. Outputs: We investigate ways microbes modify their metabolic networks and use these modifications to increase production of a given metabolite.

Synthetic biology offers a disruptive technology that has vast potential to impact the most important facets of our lives. The way we diagnose diseases, the drugs we use, the fuels we put in our cars, the plastic that is used in our potato chip bag - we have the opportunity to improve the sustainability of our lifestyle. And by reducing costs, we can make aspects of our lifestyle available to those who could not otherwise afford it. We hope to offer technical contributions that, simply put, make the world a better place.link

info on Mordacq's research

Dr. John C Mordacq Distinguished Senior Lecturer of Biological Sciences at Northwestern University