Synthetic Biology: Bottom-up Engineering of Prokaryotic Gene Clusters

We are developing a basis by which cells can be programmed like robots to perform complex, coordinated tasks for pharmaceutical and industrial applications. We are engineering new sensors that give bacteria the senses of touch, sight, and smell. Genetic circuits — analogous to their electronic counterparts — are built to integrate the signals from the various sensors. I will describe how we are using these tools to reengineer gene clusters that encode complex functions in bacteria, including protein secretion and nitrogen fixation.