News
Northwestern and MIT Receive Funding from Army’s Synthetic Biology Center
January 2023
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CSB Hosts Research Day Event
December 2022
Northwestern Part of New Center for Multi-Scale Synthetic Biology
October 2022 Supported by the US Department of Energy, the new center will develop a multi-scale synthetic biology resource to accelerate biosystems design for carbon‐negative biomanufacturing.
from Northwestern Engineering
Closing Gaps to Find New Energy Sources
July 2022 A multi-institutional research team including Professor Michael Jewett implemented a new process to produce butanol, butanoic acid, hexanol, and hexanoic acid, which could make green energy easier to generate.
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CSB Director Michael Jewett to Present at TEDxChicago
June 2022 Jewett will his research into discuss biotechnological innovations, which have the potential to revolutionize medicine, diagnostics, and science education.
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CSB News Feature: Our DNA is Becoming the World’s Tiniest Hard Drive
October 2021
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Art as a Toolkit for Data Science
June 2021
CSB Seminar Series 2020-2021
October 2020
National Science Foundation Grant Opens New Doors for Center for Synthetic Biology
August 2020
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Accelerating Biological Systems Design for Sustainable Biomanufacturing
June 2020
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New Platform for Composing Genetic Programs in Mammalian Cells
February 2020
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New Method Accelerates Development of Protein Therapeutics
November 2019
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‘Barcoding’ DNA Vesicles for Selective Biochemical Reactions
November 2019
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Artist-at-Large Dario Robleto Kicks Off Dean’s Seminar Series October 14
October 2019
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miniPCR bio launches BioBits system for synthetic biology and STEM education
September 2019
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Building Better Biologics: A Q&A with Danielle Tullman-Ercek
September 2019
from Chemistry of Life Processes Institute
2019 CLP Cornew Awards kick-start three blue-sky team science projects
June 2019
from Chemistry of Life Processes Institute
Northwestern Hosts Sixth International Mammalian Synthetic Biology Workshop
May 2019
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Northwestern Engineers Selected to Argonne’s ‘Chain Reaction Innovations’ Entrepreneur Cohort
April 2019
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Synthetic biology breaks out of the cell
April 2019
Dr. Neha Kamat publishes work on membrane protein folding technique
March 2019 Dr. Kamat's paper "Diblock copolymers enhance folding of a mechanosensitive membrane protein during cell-free expression," was published in March 2019 in Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences.
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Point-of-use Diagnostics Show Potential in Detecting Plant Disease and Beyond
March 2019
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Hamsters Versus Bacteria
February 2019
Apply for Northwestern's 2019 iGEM team
January 2019
Now accepting applications for the 2019 Synthetic Biology Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
December 2018 The Center for Synthetic Biology at Northwestern is now accepting applications for the 2019 Synthetic Biology Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SynBREU)! The program will be held June 17 - August 30, 2019. Applications are due January 25, 2019, with letters of recommendation due by February 1, 2019.
CSB Seminar: Dr. Jeff Tabor, December 12
December 2018
Center for Synthetic Biology Faculty Receive NSF Big Ideas for the Future Grants
December 2018
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Dr. Neha Kamat Receives Air Force Young Investigator Research Program Award
December 2018
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Synthetic Biology Basics, Bit by Bit
December 2018 New educational kits, BioBits, aim to inspire the next generation of synthetic biology researchers.
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Northwestern Engineering Faculty Teams Receive NSF Big Ideas for the Future Grants
December 2018
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Bacteria Harbor Geometric “Organelles”
December 2018
Dr. Arthur Prindle named 2018 Packard Fellow
October 2018
The inaugural Central US Synthetic Biology Workshop took place September 6-7, 2018 to build community and foster a vibrant synthetic biology bioeconomy in the Central US
September 2018
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Dr. Michael Jewett publishes collaborative paper on low-cost, high-tech biology kits for K-12 classrooms
August 2018
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Dr. Michael Jewett receives 2018 Young Investigator Award from the Biochemical Engineering Journal
August 2018
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Drs. Joshua Leonard and Neda Bagheri receive the first NIH research project R01 grant dedicated to synthetic biology
August 2018
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Dr. Joshua Leonard receives the 2018 Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence Award
June 2018
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CSB Seminar Series - Dr. Ron Weiss
May 2018
Fifth graders from the Western Springs School District visited the Center for Synthetic Biology
May 2018 The Center for Synthetic Biology hosted fifth graders from the Western Springs School District. The fifth graders learned about current research efforts in the Center from faculty and students. They also had the opportunity for hands on experiments.
Dr. Neda Bagheri publishes article in PNAS
April 2018 Discovery of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is crucial for gaining insights into biological processes involved in development or disease. Investigating the temporal dynamics of regulatory networks is particularly insightful. We introduce Sliding Window Inference for Network Generation (SWING), which uniquely accounts for temporal information underlying GRNs, such as protein synthesis and posttranslational modifications. We validate SWING in both in silico and in vitro experimental systems, highlighting improved performance in identifying time-delayed edges and illuminating network structure. SWING performance is robust to user-defined parameters, enabling identification of regulatory mechanisms from time-series gene expression data.
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New Undergraduate Research Experience
March 2018
CSB Co-Director Michael Jewett Receives 2017 University Teaching Award
June 2017
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Northwestern's Center for Synthetic Biology Turns in a Blockbuster Performance Its First Year Out
June 2017
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Dr. Neda Bagheri Receives Young Faculty Award
February 2017
Dr. Leonard's Lab Develops a New Strategy for Engineering Novel Metabolite-Responsive Transcription Factors for Metabolic Engineering
December 2016
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Rewiring human cells to engineer novel therapies: Dr. Joshua N. Leonard's Group Publishes in Nature Chemical Biology
December 2016 Image by Joshua Leonard and Kelly Schwarz. Cell image by NIAID/NIH, used and modified under Creative Commons 2.0 license.
Watching RNA Fold: New Technology Takes a Nucleotide-Resolution Snapshot of RNA Folding During Synthesis
November 2016
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Reshaping the Virus. Dr. Dannielle Tullman-Ercek Develops a Smaller Virus for Drug Delivery
October 2016
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The Center for Synthetic Biology to Host the First ERBC Retreat, March 24-25, 2017
October 2016 CSB is to host The First Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) Retreat on March 24-25, 2017. The EBRC retreat will feature all the great talks and networking opportunities that members grown to love. By moving this event to Northwestern, EBRC hopes to attract a broader range of academic and industrial participants into the Consortium.
Center's Faculty & Students Shine at International Synthetic Biology Conference
July 2016
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Northwestern Engineers And SAIC Artists Partner To Display Data As Art
February 2016 ChicagoInno profiles Data as Art, a collaborative course between Northwestern and the School of the Art Institute to create art projects based on large data sets.
Data as Art Showcases Collaborative Projects
January 2016 This year's projects were based on data from Chicago transportation, crime, genetics, and soil contamination.
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Protein Conjugation Method Offers New Possibilities for Biomaterials
September 2015 Professor Michael Jewett and his research team have demonstrated a novel method in which protein-polymer conjugates can display new and unique types of functionalities.
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New Protein Manufacturing Process Unveiled
September 2015 Researchers from Northwestern and Yale University have developed a user-friendly technology to help scientists understand how proteins work, which could lead to new drugs for a myriad of diseases.
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Researchers Design First Artificial Ribosome
July 2015 Researchers at Northwestern and the University of Illinois at Chicago have engineered an artificial ribosome, which may enable the production of new drugs and next-generation biomaterials.
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Jewett Receives Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
May 2015 The national award honors young faculty members in the chemical sciences who demonstrate leadership in research and education.
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Chance and Circumstance Tip Immune Control of Cancer
April 2015 A team of Northwestern researchers developed a new computational model that elucidates the dynamic interplay between cancer and the immune system.
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McCormick Professors Receive Prestigious Honor for Young Faculty
March 2015 Keith Tyo is one of five McCormick faculty members to have received a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation.
from Northwestern Engineering
Democratizing Synthetic Biology
March 2015 By replacing highly specialized, expensive equipment with standard lab tools, Michael Jewett has made synthetic biology research cheaper, faster, and more accessible.
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Synthetic Biology
June 2014 With such ambitious goals as helping cure cancer and eradicating pervasive disease, some of the most talented scientists in the country from the emerging field of synthetic biology are breaking new ground at Northwestern University.
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Building 'Smart' Cell-Based Therapies
April 2014 Synthetic biologist Joshua Leonard and his team have developed a technology for engineering human cells as therapies that become activated only in diseased tissues.
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Synthetic Biologists Break New Ground in Medicine, Energy
March 2014 With such ambitious goals as helping cure cancer and eradicating pervasive disease, a group of scientists from the emerging field of synthetic biology are breaking new ground at Northwestern University.
from SynBioBeta
Northwestern Hosts International Synthetic Biology Workshop
March 2014 Some of the leading minds in synthetic biology assembled in Chicago last month for an international synthetic biology workshop, co-hosted by Northwestern University and the UK Science and Innovation Network.
from Northwestern Engineering
Mimicking Living Cells: Synthesizing Ribosomes
July 2013 Northwestern synthetic biology researchers, working with partners at Harvard Medical School, have for the first time synthesized protein-generating cell structures called ribosomes in a test tube.
from Northwestern Engineering
McCormick Researchers Present at Synthetic Biology Conference
July 2013 Professors and graduate students presented research at the sixth annual BioBricks Foundation Synthetic Biology Conference Series in London.
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Keith Tyo Earns Early Career Award
January 2013 Keith Tyo has been selected as the recipient of the 2013 ISEN Early Career Investigator Award.
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Two Grand Challenges Explorations Grants for Global Health
May 2012 The innovative research of Northwestern professors who are making a difference in synthetic biology has been recognized with two early-stage discovery awards from Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Northwestern Team Takes Top Honors at Synthetic Biology Competition
November 2011 A team of McCormick students took top honors last month at a regional competition for iGEM, an undergraduate synthetic biology competition.
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Michael Jewett Receives Prestigious Packard Fellowship
November 2011 Jewett will use the award to advance his research on developing cell-free synthetic biology for biomanufacturing new classes of life-saving drugs, sustainable fuels and novel materials from renewable resources.
Michael Jewett Receives DARPA Young Faculty Award
August 2011 With the award, Jewett aims to reconceptualize the way we engineer biology for producing next generation materials.
from Northwestern Engineering
Michael Jewett Receives Early Career Honor
May 2011 Michael Jewett has received the Agilent Early Career Professor Award from Agilent Technologies Inc. in recognition of excellence in measurement research in the field of systems biology.
Joshua Leonard Testifies About Synthetic Biology
July 2010 Joshua Leonard testified on June 29 to the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Research and Science Education at a hearing designed to examine the future of the biological sciences.
from Northwestern Engineering
