Systems and Synthetic Bioengineering

Biological systems are incredibly complex. Gaining predictive understanding of their function will enable solutions to grand challenges in medicine, energy, and the environment. Much of our understanding of biological systems comes from the study of their individual “parts”, yet we have relatively poor understanding of how these parts are organized and assemble to enable the remarkable functions of cells, tissues, organisms, and ecosystems. BU faculty are applying the complementary approaches of systems and synthetic biology to investigate, understand, and exploit the design principles of complex biological systems. In systems biology, we are developing pioneering genomic technologies to map molecular networks in cells with high-resolution, and building computational models to predict their physiological and disease-related behaviors. BU faculty are also advancing the emerging discipline of synthetic biology, which offers a powerful, bottom-up approach to investigate and rewire these systems. We are developing methods to rationally design and evolve biological circuits, creating fundamentally new systems not found in nature, and using them to reprogram cellular behavior. Our efforts are paving the way for a new foundation of cell-based devices, diagnostics, and therapies that will provide transformative ways to combat complex diseases.

Systems and Synthetic Bioengineering Faculty 

Primary Faculty: Christopher Chen, Charles Delisi, Mary Dunlop, James Galagan, Alexander Green,  Xue Han, Simon Kasif, Ahmad (Mo) Khalil, John Ngo, Allyson Sgro, Wilson Wong, Muhammad Zaman

Research Faculty: Dmitri Beglov, Katie Bentley, James J. Collins, Jeroen Eyckmans, Dima Kozakov

Affiliated Faculty: Douglas Densmore, Andrew Emili, Pankaj Mehta, Daniel Segrè

Emeritus: Charles Cantor, Temple F. Smith, Maxim Frank-Kamenetskii

Affiliated Research Centers

BME Systems and Synthetic Bioengineering in the news:

One Small Step For A Mouse: Using Information Science to Understand the Brain

by Allison Kleber How does learning a new skill or process change the physical structure of the brain? Using techniques from data science and high-dimensional statistics, ECE Professors Bobak Nazer and Venkatesh Saligrama, alongside BME Professor Xue Han, aim to find out. Their project, titled “Discovering Changes in Networks: Fundamental Limits, More

Three ENG Faculty Named AIMBE Fellows

Three ENG faculty members have been elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE): Associate Professor Doug Densmore (ECE, BME), Associate Professor Mo Khalil (BME), and Professor Katherine Zhang (ME, BME, MSE) More

Wong Lab Develops Smarter Cancer-Killing Cells

A system of engineered cells that communicate, targeting autoimmune diseases too By Patrick L. Kennedy New research out of the College of Engineering could enable doctors to program a patient’s immune system with a more versatile toolkit than ever before in the fight against cancer, as well as autoimmune diseases. Associate Professor... More