Synthetic G ene N etworks in Cell-free Systems

1. Synthetic Gene Networks in Cell-free Systems David K. Karig*, SukanyaIyer†, Michael L. Simpson*, Mitchel J. Doktycz* *Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 †Biosciences Division and Graduate Program in Genome Science and Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 • Nanoscience aims to master energy and information on the nanoscale to create capabilities that rival living systems • Synthetic biology has a similar aim but uses living cells • Synergistic approach is to use cell-free systems comprised of biologically derived components • Cell-free systems have similar applications to live cell systems • Demonstrated autoregulatory gene circuits in cell-free contexts • Explored approaches for assembling and optimizing more complex systems • Important step towards implementing complex biological function in bottom-up fashion KarigD.K., IyerS., Simpson M.L., Doktycz M.J., “Expression Optimization and Synthetic Gene Networks in Cell-Free Systems,” Nucleic Acids Research 2011. doi10.1093/nar/GKR1191 DKK, MLS, and MJD acknowledge support from the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences that is sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy. SI and MJD also acknowledge support from the National Institutes of Health, grant number EB000657.