Qubic: Biological Information Technology Systems: Self-Perfecting Genetic Circuits

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

EIA-0130613 Arnold, Frances California Institute of Technology BITS: Biological Information Technology Systems - BITS: Self-Perfecting Genetic Circuits We propose to develop efficient, evolutionary design strategies for constructing functional de novo genetic circuits. We will apply methods of molecular evolution, which have proven highly successful for engineering proteins with improved or altered properties, to complex genetic systems involving multiple repressors, operators, and promoters. We believe that evolution will prove to be generally applicable for optimizing individual devices as well as complex genetic circuits, and our goal will be to demonstrate how evolutionary searches are best performed in order to build libraries of devices and assemble them into functional circuits. We anticipate that this research will establish a general strategy for de novo genetic circuit design and provide new insight into the natural algorithms of information processing in biological systems and biological complexity. This research exploits, in powerful combination, the strengths of classical approaches in electrical circuit design (characterizing the device physics of gates, then composing circuits from well understood components) with adaptation mechanisms (mutation and selection)that are the hallmark of biological systems.