Directing Cellular Information Flow via Synthetic Devices

The complex phenotypes of eukaryotic cells are tightly controlled by decision-making circuits and signaling pathways. A key obstacle to implementing artificial linkages in signaling networks has been the lack of synthetic devices for efficient sensing, processing and controlling of biological signals. By constructing gene regulatory devices that recognize specific signals, we have created various types of “signal-adaptors” that regulate expression of genes in response to external or internal signals of interest. We also demonstrated their use in building logic gates, in rewiring native expression pathways and in controlling expression networks in cancer cells and tumours. These devices will be useful to the synthetic biology community.