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Research

Biological systems - including the simplest cells - exhibit a broad range of functions to thrive in their environment. Research in the Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology is focused on the possibility of engineering the underlying biochemical processes to solve many of the challenges facing society, from healthcare to sustainable energy. In particular, we model, analyse, design and build biological and biochemical systems in living cells and/or in cell extracts, both exploring and enhancing the engineering potential of biology.

As part of our research we develop novel methods to accelerate the celebrated Design-Build-Test-Learn synthetic biology cycle. As such research in the Centre for Synthetic Biology highly multi- and interdisciplinary covering computational modelling and machine learning approaches; automated platform development and genetic circuit engineering ; multi-cellular and multi-organismal interactions, including gene drive and genome engineering; metabolic engineering; in vitro/cell-free synthetic biology; engineered phages and directed evolution; and biomimetics, biomaterials and biological engineering.

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Spice:2020:10.3389/fbioe.2020.00072,
author = {Spice, AJ and Aw, R and Bracewell, DG and Polizzi, KM},
doi = {10.3389/fbioe.2020.00072},
journal = {Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology},
title = {Synthesis and assembly of Hepatitis B virus-like particles in a Pichia pastoris cell-free system},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.00072},
volume = {8},
year = {2020}
}

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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Virus-like particles (VLPs) are supramolecular protein assemblies with the potential for unique and exciting applications in synthetic biology and medicine. Despite the attention VLPs have gained thus far, considerable limitations still persist in their production. Poorly scalable manufacturing technologies and inconsistent product architectures continue to restrict the full potential of VLPs. Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) offers an alternative approach to VLP production and has already proven to be successful, albeit using extracts from a limited number of organisms. Using a recently developed Pichia pastoris-based CFPS system, we have demonstrated the production of the model Hepatitis B core antigen VLP as a proof-of-concept. The VLPs produced in the CFPS system were found to have comparable characteristics to those previously produced in vivo and in vitro. Additionally, we have developed a facile and rapid synthesis, assembly and purification methodology that could be applied as a rapid prototyping platform for vaccine development or synthetic biology applications. Overall the CFPS methodology allows far greater throughput, which will expedite the screening of optimal assembly conditions for more robust and stable VLPs. This approach could therefore support the characterization of larger sample sets to improve vaccine development efficiency.
AU  - Spice,AJ
AU  - Aw,R
AU  - Bracewell,DG
AU  - Polizzi,KM
DO  - 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00072
PY  - 2020///
SN  - 2296-4185
TI  - Synthesis and assembly of Hepatitis B virus-like particles in a Pichia pastoris cell-free system
T2  - Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2020.00072
UR  - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32117947
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/77374
VL  - 8
ER  -