Design of Robust and Accurate Biosensing Systems in Living Cells
Abstract
Engineering biology promises revolutionary changes to the way we approach problems in areas ranging from energy and environment to health and medicine. In particular, engineering cells to concurrently sense multiple molecular species and compute a response based on these is going to be critical in a number of applications, including biosignature classification. In this project, we focus on the design of robust and accurate multi-input biosensors that compute the ratio between the levels of different molecular species. Despite tremendous progress in sensor design, capabilities for tracking the ratios of multiple biomarkers in a simple and deployable format have not been realized. Yet, ratiometric biomarker signatures carry key information about stress, fatigue, and cognitive overload in challenging environments. Additionally, although today we can, in principle, build complex genetic circuits comprising multiple genes, loads that genes apply to the cellular host couple independently regulated genes. This complicates design and makes the behavior of any genetic device, and of biosensors in particular, fragile and inaccurate. We thus propose to develop sensor design strategies that compensate for such effects on the output of interest.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 08, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1230618
Entities
People
- Domitilla Del Vecchio
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology