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IGI Special Seminar: Systems and synthetic biology: constructing smart and programmable microbes to address global problems

Summary

The past decade has witnessed the tremendous power of systems and synthetic biology in the creation of genetic parts, devices, and systems, which helps understand complex biological systems. However, its potential for real-world applications has not been fully exploited. One of its promising applications is the construction of programmable cells that are able to integrate multiple environmental signals and to implement synthetic control over biological processes. My research interests are focused on developing microbes that are able to process multiple input signals and to generate user-defined outputs. Specifically, I aim to build genetic programs in order to control various bacterial processes such as gene expression, chemical reactions, and evolution. I will present unpublished results of my research projects by discussing the potential and challenges of systems and synthetic biology to address global problems, including plastic and agricultural waste issues, non-invasive diagnostics and disease treatment using smart probiotics, sustainable bioproduction, and biocontainment of engineered organisms.

Speaker

Tae Seok Moon HeaadshotTae Seok Moon, Ph.D., joined the faculty of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis in 2012. Professor Moon completed his postdoctoral fellowship in the Voigt Group, in the Department of Biological Engineering & SynBio Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and jointly, in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at University of California-San Francisco.

Tae Seok Moon’s research goals are to understand and engineer gene regulatory networks and cellular processes to solve energy, environment, agriculture, and health problems. He has a broad background in systems and synthetic biology, with expertise in development of engineered cells for practical applications. His current projects include (1) engineering probiotic bacteria for medical applications, (2) systems engineering of bacteria to enable production of fuels and chemicals from lignocellulose and waste plastics, (3) developing biocontainment circuits to prevent the GMO spread in the environment, (4) building application-relevant biosensors and dynamic sensor-regulators, and (5) engineering predictable RNA regulators.

He is a recipient of an NSF CAREER award (2014), an ONR Young Investigator Award (2017), and a B&B Daniel I.C. Wang Award (2019).

Event Details

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Location

https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/93504984704

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