SIGSYNCELL: Engineering biological signaling pathways using synthetic cells

面对二十一世纪与气候、能源和健康有关的挑战，需要开发新的生物技术。生物合成方法为活细胞效率低、不适应或不受欢迎的应用提供了机会。然而，“只有细胞才能制造细胞”至今仍是一个无可辩驳的基本事实，构建从头开始的生命系统代表了生物技术的新前沿。多年来，IT行业开发了高度复杂和集成的微系统，其基础是晶体管等构建模块以及电动力学和量子物理学的基本原理。为了发展下一个世纪的生物技术，生物学的类比仍然必须解开。我们的目标是产生与环境相互作用的合成细胞的类生命系统。我们将培养博士生开发实验积木工具箱，基于软微室，分子转运蛋白，DNA纳米技术，光学技术和微技术，用于构建和整合大量相互作用的合成细胞。因为它们是从头开始构建的，具有高水平的功能表征和控制，这些细胞将允许解开生命复杂性的基本原理，同时成为新型生物技术的可集成构建模块-类似于IT行业的晶体管。它们将为合成细胞的应用铺平道路，以满足21世纪世纪在能量收集、生物质和原材料转化、生物修复或治疗方面的迫切需求。我们的网络基于研究和创新的跨学科性，将培养下一代独立和负责任的科学家，通过建立基础知识和可持续创新来应对紧迫的全球挑战。

Facing the challenges of the XXIst century related to climate, energy and health requires the development of new biotechnologies. Synthetic approaches of biology represent an opportunity for applications where living cells are inefficient, inadapted or undesired. Yet, 'Only cells can make cells' remains to date an unrefutable fundamental reality and constructing de novo living systems represents the new frontier of biotechnology. The IT industry developed over the years highly complex and integrated microsystems, based on building blocks such as the transistor and fundamental principles of electrodynamics and quantum physics. The analogon for biology must still be unraveled to develop the biotechnologies of the next century. Our aim is to produce life-like systems of synthetic cells in interaction with their environment. We will train Doctoral Candidates to develop a toolbox of experimental building blocks, based upon soft microcompartments, molecular transporters, DNA nanotechnologies, optical technologies and microtechnologies, for the construction and integration of large population of interacting synthetic cells. Because they are built from scratch with a high-level of functional characterization and control, these cells will allow to unravel fundamental principle in life complexity and, at the same time, become integrable building blocks - analogon of the transistors of the IT industry - of a new type of biotechnology. They will pave the way for applications of synthetic cells addressing the pressing needs of the XXIst century, in energy harvesting, biomass and raw matter transformation, bio-remediation or therapeutics. Our network based upon interdisciplinarity in research and innovation, will train the next generation of independent and responsible scientists to address pressing global challenges through the build up of fundamental knowledge and sustainable innovations.