{"450701":{"#nid":"450701","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Engineered Genetic Clocks:  From \u201cdegrade and \ufb01re\u201d to \u201cintegrate and \ufb01re\u201d dynamics","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESchool of Physics Colloquium Series: Prof. Jeff Hasty, University of California, San Diego.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA de\ufb01ning component of Synthetic Biology is the development of theoretical modeling that can serve as the foundation for a new type of cellular engineering.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;This talk will be anchored by my quest to build genetic oscillators in bacteria, with a particular focus on the utility of theory and computation.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;I\u2019ll start by describing how the coupling of transcriptional activators and repressors was originally modeled as a type of classical \u201cpredator-prey\u201d system.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;Although this system led to the design of a robust intracellular clock (\u003Ca title=\u0022http:\/\/biodynamics.ucsd.edu\/Intracellular.mov\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/biodynamics.ucsd.edu\/Intracellular.mov\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/biodynamics.ucsd.edu\/Intracellular.mov\u003C\/a\u003E), I\u2019ll show how the experiments pointed to a different type of \u201cdegrade and \ufb01re\u201d oscillator characterized by a coupled set of delayed differential equations. Interestingly, the biological constraints naturally lead to a system that can be solved approximately.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;In terms of engineering, the clock was not of the Swiss variety; the period and amplitude exhibited large intracellular variability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, it provided a benchmark for the development of general synchronization strategies that can restore determinism.\u0026nbsp;I\u2019ll conclude with our efforts to use cellular communication to couple clocks between cells (http:\/\/biodynamics.ucsd.edu\/Intercellular.mov) and colonies (\u003Ca title=\u0022http:\/\/biodynamics.ucsd.edu\/Intercolony.mov\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/biodynamics.ucsd.edu\/Intercolony.mov\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/biodynamics.ucsd.edu\/Intercolony.mov\u003C\/a\u003E). Here, the threshold nature of the communication mechanism leads naturally to oscillators that are highly reminiscent of \u201cintegrate and \ufb01re\u201d systems in neuroscience.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Engineered Genetic Clocks:  From \u201cdegrade and \ufb01re\u201d to \u201cintegrate and \ufb01re\u201d dynamics"}],"uid":"27664","created_gmt":"2015-09-23 10:40:02","changed_gmt":"2017-04-13 21:18:12","author":"Alison Morain","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2015-11-23T14:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2015-11-23T15:00:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2015-11-23T15:00:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2015-11-23 19:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2015-11-23 20:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2015-11-23 20:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"142301","name":"Engineered Gene Circuits"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78751","name":"Undergraduate students"},{"id":"78761","name":"Faculty\/Staff"},{"id":"174045","name":"Graduate students"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amorain@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eamorain@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}