BioCHIP: synthetic tissues with collective information-processing functions

在过去的十年里，自下而上合成生物学领域的研究人员试图填补生物学和化学之间的空白，以更好地了解非生物是如何变得有生命的。为了做到这一点，人们试图构建所谓的原始细胞。这些是使用分子、材料和化学反应的工具箱从头开始创建的类似细胞的实体。戈博集团(https://gobbo-group.com))致力于开拓自下而上合成生物学的新研究前沿，开发出首批实验方法，将数以百万计的原细胞组织成在水中稳定、高度模块化并具有特定内部架构的独立原细胞材料，以完成信息处理任务。更具体地说，该项目的目标是实现第一个基于原细胞材料的生物芯片，该芯片可以感知、处理和响应从批量解决方案输入的DNA信号。学生将解决生物芯片设计和合成结构的下列令人兴奋的挑战：1)开发光诱导从原细胞构建块中控制释放DNA链的方法；2)研究化学物质如何在原细胞材料中扩散；以及3)在基于脚趾介导的DNA链置换的原细胞材料中实现逻辑生物电路。

The past decade has seen researchers in the field of bottom-up synthetic biology try to fill the gap between biology and chemistry to better understand how the non-living becomes alive. To do this, attempts have been made to construct what are called protocells. These are cell-like entities created from scratch using a toolbox of molecules, materials, and chemical reactions. The Gobbo Group (https://gobbo-group.com) aims to pioneer new research frontiers in bottom-up synthetic biology by developing the first experimental methodologies to organise millions of protocells into self-standing protocellular materials that are stable in water, highly modular, and engineered with specific internal architectures for information processing tasks. More specifically, the aim of this project is the implementation of the first protocellular material-based BioCHIP that can sense, process and respond to DNA signals received in input from the bulk solution. The student will tackle the following exciting challenges of BioCHIP design and synthetic construction: 1) the development of methodologies for the light-induced controlled release of DNA strands from protocell building blocks; 2) the study of how chemicals diffuse within a protocellular material; and 3) the implementation of logic bio-circuits within a protocellular material based on toehold-mediated DNA strand displacement.