Prof. Dr. Sven Panke

Head of the Bioprocess Laboratory, Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering

The research of the Bioprocess Laboratory revolves around the design of novel bioprocesses for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. We address fundamental issues in biocatalyst discovery, biocatalyst engineering and process engineering. This set of activities reflects the interdisciplinary set of competences, from engineering to molecular biology, that is required to design successful processes. This includes, in the framework of our activities in synthetic biology, our work towards the transfer of more and more engineering concepts into the world of bio”engineering”, with the ultimate goal of converting biotechnology from a discovery science into a true engineering discipline.

Instructors

Prof. Dr. Yaakov Benenson

Head of the Synthetic Biology Group, Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering

Prof. Dr. Benenson joined ETH in 2010 to establish a Synthetic Biology group at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering in Basel. The group will continue to pursue cutting edge research in synthetic biology and focus on applying the concepts of biological computing to problems in medicine. We engineer synthetic biological circuits that control and manipulate living cells. Our circuits comprise modules common to all control systems: sensors, processors (computers) and actuators. Unlike traditional electromechanical devices, all these modules are built of biological molecules and operate inside live mammalian cells.

Prof. Dr. Joerg Stelling

Head of the Computational Systems Biology Group, Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering

The group develops computational methods for studying complex networks that establish cellular functions to elucidate their operating and design principles. We focus on concepts and tools for network inference, for system modeling and analysis, and for experimental design at larger scales in different biological systems. More specifically, we aim at elucidating design principles of the integration of cellular regulation across metabolism, signal transduction and gene regulation. All projects involve close collaborations with experimental biologists and computer / systems.

Advisors

Sabine Österle

Ph.D Student, Bioprocess Laboratory D-BSSE

Bartolomeo Angelici

Ph.D Student, Synthetic Biology Group

Lukas Widmer

Ph.D Student, Computational Systems Biology Group