Engineering biological timers and their applications

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 Objective

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 the Timers

• Timers will be highly programmable
• Timers will be reusable
• Timers will be scalable

Applications

I will exploit their potential by using them for different applications, including:

1. Bioproduction
2. 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.