Dr Byron Carpenter, UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship
Developing a Synthetic Signalling System Capable of the Precise Spatial and Temporal Control of Protein Function in Living Cells
Synthetic biology is a multidisciplinary field that aims to engineer cells or biological systems to deliver societal and economic benefit, in areas such as healthcare, energy production, food security and the environment.
Eukaryotic cells, including those of yeast, plants and animals, hold huge potential in synthetic biology. However, due to their complexity, precisely controlling the behaviour of these cells is challenging.
Through his Fellowship, Dr Byron Carpenter will aim to redesign natural cellular signalling pathways to create a powerful tool for regulating eukaryotic cell behaviour.
Dr Carpenter and his team will use a combination of kinetic modelling and advanced molecular biology approaches to design, build and test synthetic signalling pathways with novel properties. Ultimately, this tool will have a broad range of applications, including studying the cellular mechanism of human disease, producing engineered cells for regenerative medicine applications and developing miniaturised medical diagnostic devices.
This research is being conducted at the Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre (WISB), a state-of-the-art BBSRC / EPSRC funded centre within the School of Life Sciences.
Robotics facility at the Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Centre.