| Researchers at the Synthetic
Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC) have developed a new cell
programming method known as Multiplex Automated Genome Engineering (MAGE)
that allows scientists to break free of linear genetic engineering techniques
and move beyond the serial manipulation of single genes. SynBERC,
funded by NSF, is headquartered at the University of California, Berkeley.
Traditional in vitro and
directed evolution methods have created useful genetic variants with laborious,
serial manipulation of single genes, and are not used for parallel and
continuous directed evolution of gene networks or genomes. SynBERC
graduate student Harris Wang and postdoctoral researcher Farren Isaacs
developed the MAGE platform to rapidly refine the design of a bacterium
by editing multiple genes in parallel instead of targeting one gene at
a time. The pair transformed E. coli cells into efficient
bio-factories and optimized the production of a test compound, lycopene,
in three days. Most biotech companies would have needed months or
years to perform the same task. MAGE promises to give biotechnology
in general, and synthetic biology in particular, a powerful boost, and
was featured in the July 2009 issue of Nature. “We initiated
the project to close the gap between DNA sequencing technology and cell
programming technology,” said Wang, one of the lead authors of the paper
in Nature.
The goal was to use information
gleaned from genetics and genomics to rapidly engineer new functions and
improve existing functions in cells. “We wanted to develop a new
tool and demonstrate how to apply it; we were determined to hand labs a
hammer and a nail,” said Isaacs.
Harris Wang presented this
work at the Collegiate Inventors Competition, which recognizes, rewards,
and encourages hundreds of students to share their inventive ideas with
the world. The Competition promotes exploration in invention, science,
engineering, technology, and other creative endeavors and provides a window
on the technologies from which society will benefit in the future.
For his work on MAGE, Harris was awarded Grand Prize in the competition. |
