CBET-EPSRC: Developing Standardized Cell-Free Platforms for Rapid Prototyping of Complex Synthetic Biology Circuits and Pathways

合成生物学是一个新兴的工程领域，旨在建立一个系统的框架来设计生物系统，其基础是一种自下而上的方法来重建复杂的生物分子系统。工程方法在设计中的应用是很有吸引力的，因为在生命系统中可以识别出许多工程上的相似之处。然而，生物系统是高度复杂和动态的，很难进行工程设计。特定生物部件和装置的快速表征需要新的方法，因为现有方法效率低且容易出错，并且需要大量耗时的实验。当前方法的替代方法是使用无细胞系统进行快速表征。无细胞系统是一种细胞提取物，它包含了使生物部分发挥作用的所有机械，因此人们可以在不使用活细胞的情况下快速分析许多部分。因此，这加快了整个过程。然而，无细胞系统可能是可变的，不同研究人员的结果可能会有所不同。该项目的总体目标是利用计算机模型和新的生化测量工具进一步推进标准化的无细胞系统。这样的标准化系统将探索无细胞原型和表征的边界，并使人们能够更详细地了解关键机制，加速无细胞系统在工业和学术界的使用和更广泛的用途。

Synthetic biology is an emerging field of engineering that aims to establish a systematic framework for the design of biological systems based on a 'bottom-up' approach for the reconstruction of complex bio-molecular systems. The application of an engineering approach to design is attractive, as many engineering parallels can be identified in living systems. However, biological systems are highly complex and dynamic and difficult to engineer. Rapid characterization of particular biological parts and devices requires new methods as existing methods are inefficient and error prone, and require extensive time-consuming experiments.An alternative to current methods is the use ell-free systems for rapid characterization. Cell-free systems are cell extracts that contain all the machinery that allows biological parts to function and as such one can analyse many parts quickly without using living cells. This therefore speeds up the whole process. However, cell free systems can be variable and the results can be different between different researchers. The overall goal of this project is to further advance standardized cell-free systems using both computer models and new biochemical measurement tools. Such standardized systems will both explore the boundaries of cell-free prototyping and characterization, and enable more detailed understanding of key mechanisms, accelerating the usage and broader utility of cell-free systems in industry and academia.