Who are we?
We are a new research group in the Department of Biology at the University of Florida in Gainesville. We strive to better understand the general processes of Life and Life’s origins by engineering synthetic life from non-living components.
Why is this important?
Knowledge gained from building synthetic life has the potential to power up numerous advancements in biotechnological and biomedical applications, such as in manufacturing pipelines for synthetic materials and biofuels, new vaccination strategies and drug delivery methods.
How do we do this?
To start with, we will engineer numerous cell-free processes that mimic the cyclically catalytic nature of living organisms. To do this, we will implement cell-free gene expression systems, self-replicating gene circuits and networks, and in vitro evolution in biomimetic compartments.
We welcome expertise and collaborations from a wide range of disciplines, including synthetic biology, systems biology, biochemistry, biophysics, evolutionary biology, ecology, and computational biology.