David McMillen

The Synthetic Biology and Cellular Control Laboratory seeks to create an engineering discipline within living cells.  We use molecular biology to design and experimentally implement biological “devices” that sense the internal states of cells, and respond to those states with outputs that change the cell’s dynamics in useful ways (implementing feedback control loops to regulate a protein’s expression level, for example).  We are using our interdisciplinary expertise to translate abstract mathematical results from fields like control theory into practical design procedures to be used in the context of biology.  We also have projects on expanding the library of available parts to be used in biological designs, including harnessing novel forms of biological regulation (like activating RNA) and developing new forms of regulatory targeting (like an engineered polymerase that can initiate transcription wherever desired).

The group has a strong and growing interest in the applied results of our research, particularly in the area of global health.  Current projects include inexpensive cell-based biosensors and protein production systems to be used in the developing world.