core members iGEM Web of registries Based on MIT Registry of Standard Biological Parts (parts.mit.edu)parts.mit.edu Well-characterized, community-rated, standard parts Distributed, coordinated access to banked parts All parts available to industrial participants Vision SynBERC is a multi-institution research effort to help lay the foundation for synthetic biology. Just as technicians now assemble standardized, off-the-shelf electronic components to build computers, synthetic biologists anticipate the ability to assemble well-characterized biological components into robust host organisms to achieve specific functions. SynBERC aims to provide the tools and techniques to help designers easily and predictably reprogram existing systems, and reduce the prohibitively high costs and long development times of conventional biological approaches. Education & outreach SynBERC develops modular online curricula and training materials for all student levels The International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM) is the flagship education program of SynBERC. Undergraduate students use and create Registry parts to learn how to design and execute a synthetic biology project over the course of a summer. Human Practices educates citizens and policymakers about the benefits and threats synthetic biology SynBERC provides industry-sponsored summer internships in industrial labs, in partnership with QB3 and SynBERC alliance members Social context SynBERC examines synthetic biology within a frame of human practices, with emphasis on ways that economic, political, and cultural forces may condition the development of synthetic biology and on ways that synthetic biology may significantly inform human security, health, and welfare through the new objects that it brings into the world. Applied Modules Kenneth Oye, MIT Applied Research on Intellectual Property and the Commons Applied Research on Security, Health and Environmental Effects Fundamental Modules Paul Rabinow, UC Berkeley Fundamental Research on Ethics Fundamental Research on Ontology and Emergent Objects The underlying goal of our research is not just to deliver systems that fulfill these testbed applications, but rather to develop the foundational infrastructure that is needed to make routine the design and construction of any engineered biological system. Research thrusts Parts Genetically encoded entity with basic biological function (e.g., a ribosome binding site, transcription terminator, phosphorylation motif) Devices Collections of parts that perform one or more intended functions (e.g., Boolean logic operation, a feedback control loop, chemical transformation) Key components include specifying device families; device-device carrier signals; standard experimental methods for device modeling and characterization Chassis “Naïve” cellular power supplies and chassis that can be used to sustain the proper operation of a synthetic biological system Systems engineers focus on system design, and cell engineers focus on the design of cells as power supplies and chassis SynBERC: A center-based approach to the engineering of biology partners community Tech transfer & industry SynBERC emphasizes industrial collaborations and technology transfer through its Industry Alliance Program, which aims to accelerate the commercial use of biology as an engineering science. Industry benefits can include: Close interaction and joint projects with SynBERC faculty and students Access to unpublished research results and SynBERC publications Joint submittal of SBIR/STTR proposals and potential university fund matching Opportunity to sponsor dedicated research projects with SynBERC Faculty Testbeds Research thrusts are driven in large part by SynBERC’s three science testbeds, which serve to demonstrate the utility of synthetic biology and the tools constructed in our thrusts: Testbed 1: Construction of a bacterium to swim to a chemical or biological agent and destroy it (e.g. tumor-killing bacterium) Testbed 2: Microbial synthesis of natural and unnatural organic compounds Reconstruction of plant alkaloid pathways in microbes De novo design of biosynthetic pathways Testbed 3: Development of a bacterium to produce cheap biofuels from biomass Thrust-testbed integration: Tumor-killing bacterium A model project: Tumor-killing bacterium GENETIC PROGRAM x = 0 IF (x==0) EXPRESS serum protectant IF (tumor_signal1) x = 1 IF (x=1 AND tumor_signal2) INVADE EXPRESS therapeutic CHASSIS Septic shock Innate immune response SENSORS Anaerobic Nutrients Bacteria Density CIRCUITS AND gate UCSF MIT Harvard UCB Wendell Lim Chris Voigt Drew Endy Tom Knight Kristala Jones Prather George Church Jay Keasling Carlos Bustamante Adam Arkin Susan Marqusee Randy Rettberg PVAMU Michael Gyamerah Raul Cuero Tanja Kortemme Ken Oye Paul Rabinow Investigators Chris Anderson