CAREER: Synthetic auxotrophy for the containment of engineered microbes

CBET 1151220/Anderson生物技术、生物化学和生物质工程项目的NSF CAREER奖支持开发一种基于合成营养缺陷型的工程生物新的遏制策略。合成营养缺陷型提供了一种策略，用于减轻使用合成生物学工具开发的新生物体意外环境释放的风险。在这项研究中开发的合成营养缺陷型将被改造，使其生存能力取决于一种化学物质，而不是在自然界中发现。因此，这些生物体不能在添加了合成化合物的封闭环境之外存活。产生这些合成营养缺陷型的过程涉及一种新的蛋白质工程策略。它需要一种由必需基因编码的对生物体生长至关重要的蛋白质，并重新连接其与细胞的相互作用，使其只能在合成化合物存在的情况下生长。 沿着遏制战略的发展，PI将开发一个互动网站，通过互联网上的各种培训资源提供背景和导航。 基于Trail或一系列相关电子内容的想法，该网站将引导学生通过教程，测验和多媒体内容掌握特定学科领域。这些科目包括合成生物学的技术实现，以及设计理论，基础科学和人类实践问题。 这些努力共同解决生物安全和这一领域培训方面尚未解决的关键问题。

CBET 1151220/ AndersonThis NSF CAREER award by the Biotechnology, Biochemical and Biomass Engineering program supports the development of a novel containment strategy for engineered organisms based on synthetic auxotrophy. Synthetic auxotrophs provide a strategy for mitigating the risks of accidental environmental release of novel organisms developed using the tools of synthetic biology. The synthetic auxotrophs developed in this study will be engineered such that their viability is dependent upon a chemical not found in nature. Therefore these organisms cannot survive outside the contained environments to which the synthetic compound has been added. The process for generating these synthetic auxotrophs involves a novel protein engineering strategy. It takes a protein critical to the growth of the organism encoded by an essential gene and rewires its interactions with the cell such that it can only grows in the presence of the synthetic compound. Along with the development of containment strategies, the PI will develop an interactive website that provides context and navigation through the diverse training resources available on the internet. Based around the idea of a Trail, or a series of related electronic content, the site will guide students through tutorials, quizzes, and multimedia content towards mastery of specific subject areas. These subjects include the technical implementation of synthetic biology, as well as design theory, basic science, and issues of human practice. Together these efforts address key unresolved issues of biosafety and training in this field.