Resilient Consulting’s Post

🧬Exploring Evolutionary Dynamics in Synthetic Systems 🧬 Are you curious about predicting the evolution of engineered cell populations? Exciting new research from Duncan Ingram and Guy-Bart Stan presents a groundbreaking framework that connects DNA design with mutation spread, shedding light on the dynamics of genetic stability. This innovative approach allows scientists to explore the optimisation of protein yield, genetic shelf life, and the design of gene regulatory networks. 🧬 Understanding the Challenge While models of evolutionary dynamics are not new, their application to synthetic systems has been limited due to the complex nature of genetic parts and regulatory elements. To bridge this gap, the researchers have developed a framework that connects DNA design to mutation dynamics in growing cell populations. 🧬The Framework The framework enables users to specify functional parts and mutation heterogeneity to explore. By generating host-aware transition dynamics, the model unveils how different mutation phenotypes evolve over time. It accounts for sequence-dependent mutation probabilities and gene expression-dependent growth rates, providing a comprehensive understanding of mutation dynamics. 🧬 Striking the Right Balance The framework introduces a part-driven approach to balance model complexity and usability. It allows researchers to explore the effects of mutating specific functional parts, such as promoters or RBS regions. By dissecting synthetic constructs into mutation states associated with distinct parts, the framework uncovers unique design considerations. 🧬 Beyond Genetic Parts The framework also considers gene expression dynamics, allowing researchers to explore variations in transcription and translation processes. While the current model focuses on transcription and translation elongation, future developments could incorporate additional components like the coding sequence, terminator, and origin of replication. This enhanced model could capture the effects of codon efficiency, termination efficiency, and copy number. 🧬Unlocking New Possibilities The framework's modularity enables its extension to various gene regulatory networks, uncovering evolutionary dynamics and providing insights into diverse synthetic devices. From feedforward loops to motifs within larger networks, the framework offers a powerful tool to analyse and optimise gene regulatory systems. This research opens up new horizons in biotechnology and synthetic biology, guiding researchers in designing more efficient and robust genetic constructs. The framework's potential to explore mutation dynamics and its impact on synthetic systems could revolutionise our understanding of engineered cell populations. #SyntheticBiology #GeneticEngineering #Biotechnology Article: https://lnkd.in/eeDqt2eU