Protein Engineering, the unsung hero of next generation sequencing
Illumina sequencing technology has reduced the cost of genome sequencing from ~$1B two decades ago to ~$1K today..
In vitro Synthetic Biology – using cell free systems to rapidly access to xenobiotics in a test-tube
Cell-free transcription/translation systems (known as CFPS or TX-TL) have recently been re-evaluated as a promising platform for enabling synthetic biology research and applications. In particular... Read More
Structural evidence for a functional actin cytoskeleton in Asgard archaea
The origin of the eukaryotic cell is unresolved. Metagenomics sequencing recently provided evidence for several potential eukaryotic gene homologs in the Asgard archaea. However, many of these eukaryotic-like sequences are highly divergent and the organisms have yet to be imaged or cultivated, bringing in to question whether these archaea exhibit eukaryotic characteristics.
Molecular Programming Using De Novo Designed Proteins
The design of DNA primers involves simply writing down the reverse complement of the target sequence, made possible by the modular A-T and G-C base... Read More
Engineering synthetic regulatory systems using naturally inspired design principles
We have recently demonstrated that two engineering principles inspired by natural regulatory networks can be used to create new classes of synthetic circuitry in eukaryotic... Read More