Cybergenetics: The new field of control systems for living cells
In his 1948 book, Cybernetics, Norbert Wiener presented a vision where the study of control and communication in the animal and the machine are unified. The field of Cybernetics (art of steering) was born. Predating the discovery of the structure of DNA and the ensuing molecular biology revolution, cybernetic applications in the life sciences at the time were limited. More than 60 years later, the confluence of modern genetic manipulation techniques, powerful measurement technologies, and advanced analysis methods is enabling a new area of research in which systems, communications, and control theory notions are used for synthetically regulating cellular processes at the gene level. We refer to the resulting field of research at the interface between cybernetics and genetics with the portmanteau Cybergenetics.
We are developing novel analytical and experimental methods for the analysis and design of cybergenetic systems. Our current work demonstrates how de novo control systems can be interfaced with living cells and used to control their dynamic behavior in real time.
Computer Control of Cell Populations
Here we use a computer to dynamically control populations of living cells using light in a negative feedback vashion. Populations thus controlled robustly and precisely regulate a variable of interest (e.g. an enzyme) to follow a desired profile. We are pursing applications in industrial biotechnology.
More on computer control of cell populations
Computer Control of Single Cells
Here we use a computer to dynamically control populations of living cells using light in a negative feedback vashion. Populations thus controlled robustly and precisely regulate a variable of interest (e.g. an enzyme) to follow a desired profile. We are pursing applications in industrial biotechnology.
More on computer control of single cells
Genetically Engineered Control Systems
Here the control system is engineered into the living cell and is implemented entirely with biomolecular components. Sensing, actuation, and computation take place within each cell using biomolecular reactions of cellular species. We are motivated by applications in basic science, medical therapy, and industrial biotechnology.
More on genetically engineered control systems