Wilfried Weber (Faculty of Biology & Center for Biological Signalling Systems, University of Freiburg, Germany) | Synthetic biological tools to program mammalian cells

Abstract

Synthetic biological switches and sensors enable controlling and analyzing cellular function in time and space. We will present an overview of synthetic biological tools to program mammalian cells. For this aim we will elaborate on recently developed chemically and optically triggered switches to control gene expression in a spatiotemporal manner. Interconnecting mutually compatible switches resulted in the design of synthetic biological networks that enabled to functionally interconnect cells for programming complex gene expression kinetics. We will conclude by presenting an overview of how these genetic control elements can be delivered by viral and non-viral methods in a target-specific manner either in cells or in whole animals.