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More than 125 leading researchers, students, and innovators from academia, industry, and government gathered in Evanston, IL last month for the 2024 Central US Synthetic Biology Workshop, hosted by Northwestern’s Center for Synthetic Biology. Over two days, participants delved into pioneering technologies that could reshape industries and enhance human life, engaging in deep discussions on their societal impact. The workshop showcased cutting-edge advances and underscored Northwestern’s position as a collaborative powerhouse and premier hub for synthetic biology in the Central US.

Alongside engaging talks and insightful panel discussions led by prominent investigators from across the Central US, the program featured a vibrant poster session, where students presented their latest research breakthroughs. This session recognized the following individuals for their outstanding poster presentations:

Elizabeth Johnson
Protein Engineering (Northwestern)
Title: “Signal sequences work cooperatively to mediate bacterial microcompartments formation and cargo protein encapsulation”

Julie Badger
Vertebrate SynBio (University of Minnesota)
Title: “Year-round spawning and transgenesis of common carp for genetic biocontrol research and development”

Riley Sinnott
Mammalian SynBio (University of Chicago)
Title: “Engineering CIRTS to rebalance protein expression from mRNA in Haploinsufficiencies”

Ethical Considerations

UT Austin’s Andrew Ellington kicked off the program with a keynote on directed evolution and computational design of biosensors.  On day two, Rice University’s Luis Campos encouraged participants to consider the lessons of history when considering questions of scientific responsibility.

Campos harkened back to 1975 when international scientists convened for a meeting on recombinant DNA molecules at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California. Participants were excited about the technology’s possibilities and concerned about the unintended consequences of innovations, such as creating antibiotic resistance or potentially hazardous work with tumor-causing viruses.  They discussed how to end a temporary moratorium that had been instituted six months earlier in order to proceed with valuable types of experiments by generating a consensus on how to handle safety concerns.

“It’s kind of like where we are now with AI,” says Campos. “We’re very excited about what AI could make possible or do, but we’re also wondering maybe there’s some things we don’t want it to do,” says Campos. “With our scientific and engineering training, we think of the world as problems that are ‘out there’ to be solved. But a question about how new technologies relate to society is not like an engineering problem that can be solved. It’s much more akin to politics—It’s the different interests, communities, goals, and aims that people have.”

Campos suggests that the brave new world of synthetic biology will require ongoing communication with the broader communities of industry, regulation, journalism, and public opinion.

“Rather than creating something that’s technically interesting but not serving a function, maybe one should go find out what other members of the community feel is needed and ask how you can bring your skills to address that need,” says Campos.

People-Centric Team Science

Husband and wife team Julius Lucks, CSB Co-Director, and Northwestern anthropologist Sera Young have been working for the past several years to develop a new people-centric technology.

“What I think is very special about this field is the opportunity to work across disciplines. I’m an anthropologist and public health nutritionist, and there aren’t a lot of us who are talking to synthetic biologists,” says Young.  “I was excited to apply this skillset to understand people’s experiences developing at-home biosensor tests to rapidly detect drinking water contaminants. Figuring out how technology does or doesn’t work in real life is imperative if we want innovations to have impact.”

Young and team recently completed the first round of data collection in 93 Chicago-area households that included both before and after surveys about their experiences with water insecurity and their experiences with the diagnostic itself. This work builds on a similar study in Kenya to detect dangerous, naturally occurring levels of fluoride.

“People loved that they could test it at home,” says Young. “We’re seeing a real appetite for knowing what’s in your water. We’re also seeing what does and doesn’t work with the test and finding some opportunities for improvement.”

The program concluded with a workshop on computationally aided biosynthesis planning

presented by Stefan Pate a Northwestern graduate student in the Tyo/Broadbelt labs and a tour of the CSB BioFoundry Lab led by Foundry Scientist Lauren Clark. The facility is equipped with advanced liquid-handling robotics, high-throughput screening systems, and sophisticated biological characterization platforms to enable rapid and efficient experimentation.

“These meetings showcase the power of our region’s dynamic and growing synthetic biology bioeconomy,” says CSB Co-director Danielle Tullman-Ercek. “They also help identify areas where we can work across groups on moonshot research opportunities and foster a more vibrant synthetic biology bioeconomy in the Central US.”

by Lisa La Vallee