Enhancing Robustness of Gene Regulatory Networks

合成遗传电路的鲁棒性是工程遗传装置可靠运行的核心问题。该项目预计将揭示基因电路设计的原理，这些原理可以导致这种工程设备的强大性能。这项研究还将促进我们对合成工程生物在不同环境中的功能寿命的理解，并有助于设计增强或减弱鲁棒性的主动机制。这项研究更广泛的意义在于，它可以帮助提供一个“安全网”，限制逃逸或释放到环境中的工程生物的生存能力。该项目通过开发实验室课程提供培训机会，这些课程将生物工程原理与稳健性和生物安全概念结合起来，该项目将开发设计原理，利用遗传同源性和基因网络拓扑结构增强工程细胞的功能稳健性。 当引入宿主生物体时，基因工程装置或合成基因网络将由于细胞过程和环境因素的变化而受到连续扰动，并且合成基因组分本身由于潜在生化过程的随机性质而随机运行。在突变压力下设计强大的遗传电路（突变菌株迅速超过原始工程菌株）是合成生物学的关键挑战之一。该项目将通过应用集成的数学，计算和实验方法来设计鲁棒的合成电路，其目标是对这种适应性变化进行建模，以实现受控功能鲁棒性的设计。健身景观设计概念将在E.杆菌该研究将有助于分析和预测合成遗传电路的鲁棒性程度，并有助于识别和纠正易突变的遗传组件和网络结构。

Robustness in synthetic genetic circuits is a central issue for the reliable operation of engineered genetic devices. This project is anticipated to uncover principles of genetic circuit design that can lead to the robust performance of such engineered devices. The research will also advance our understanding of the functional life span of synthetically engineered organisms in different environments, and aid in devising active mechanisms to enhance or attenuate robustness. The wider implication of this this research is that it can help to provide a "safety net" that limits the survivability of engineered organisms that escape or are released into the environment. The project provides training opportunities through the development of laboratory courses that integrate bio-engineering principles with concepts of robustness and bio-safety.This project will develop design principles for enhancing the functional robustness of engineered cells using genetic homology and gene network topology. When introduced into host organisms, genetically engineered devices or synthetic genetic networks will be subjected to continuous perturbations due to changes in cellular processes and environmental factors, and the synthetic genetic components themselves operate stochastically due to the random nature of the underlying biochemical processes. Engineering robust genetic circuits under mutation pressures (whereby mutated strains quickly outgrow the original engineered strain) is one of the key challenges for synthetic biology. This project will take a step toward designing robust synthetic circuits by applying integrated mathematical, computational, and experimental approaches, where the goal is to model such fitness changes to enable the design of controlled functional robustness. The fitness landscape design concept will be tested in synthetic circuits implemented in E. coli. This study will help the analysis and prediction of the degree of robustness of synthetic genetic circuits, and help to identify and correct mutation-prone genetic components and network structures.