Cell free synthetic biology diagnostics developed by Lucks/Jewett labs monitor an individual’s water quality easily and rapidly

Immobilization of enzymes/biomolecules in carriers for long-term stability & controlled activity in biocatalysis & drug delivery

From molecular folding to diagnostics the Lucks Lab explores how RNA acts as biosensors for contaminants & health biomarkers

PLANT-Dx is a portable cell-free synthetic biology diagnostic platform that allows farmers to diagnose crop health (Lucks)

SNAs consist of a dense shell of oligonucleotides radially arranged around nanoparticle core (Mirkin)

Engineering ribosomes offer opportunities for understanding & engineering biocatalytic systems for medicines & materials (Jewett)

Metabolomics study of mixed-carbon metabolism in a soil bacterium (Pseudomonas putida) of biotechnological importance (Aristilde)

Researchers Pinpoint Place Where Cancer Cells May Begin (Amaral) read more

Research
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Areas of Research
Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology

The world faces a range of global challenges where biotechnologies stand to offer impactful solutions. Synthetic biology is reframing how we approach biotechnology development by uncovering new engineering principles by which we may harness the power of natural organisms to solve these challenges. New drug and new drug delivery technologies will help us fight disease, smart therapeutics promise whole new approaches to treating a range of diseases, cell-free diagnostic approaches promise to diagnose diseases and environmental contaminants, and new biomanufacturing technologies will help us sustainably supply the world with countless products. Northwestern chemical and biological engineers - trained and grounded in quantitative physical, biological and computational sciences - will make discoveries and innovate new approaches and drive the field forward.

Research Areas

Specific research areas pursued in the department include:

Mammalian synthetic biology
RNA synthetic biology
Cell-free synthetic biology
Point-of-use diagnostics
Metabolic engineering
Experimental and Computational Systems biology
Protein Engineering
Biomaterials

The department also has strong theoretical and computational research on bio-interfaces, computational and systems biology, self-organization and emergent behavior in biological, chemical and physical systems, and medical informatics.

Faculty

Our faculty research a wide range of topics in biotechnology and synthetic biology illustrated by the research thumbnails below:

	Ludmilla Aristilde The Aristilde Lab seeks to elucidate metabolic pathway networks in complex nutrient conditions using metabolomics-enabled systems biology approaches.

	Linda Broadbelt The Broadbelt Lab, in collaboration with the Tyo Lab, is developing computational frameworks to guide and optimize metabolic network design to achieve production of desirable compounds in biological systems.

	Omar Farha The Farha lab investigates the immobilization of enzymes and other biomolecules in biocompatible carriers for their long-term stability and controlled activity in biocatalysis and drug delivery.

	Joshua Leonard The Leonard Lab is enabling an emerging paradigm of design-driven medicine by integrating synthetic biology with systems biology to address pressing challenges in medicine and biotechnology.

	Julius Lucks The Lucks Lab develops methods for high-throughput dynamic RNA structural biology, and investigates molecular design and evolution approaches for RNA synthetic biology and cell-free point-of-use diagnostic technologies.

	Chad Mirkin The Mirkin lab uses spherical nucleic acids for the monitoring and manipulation of biological processes at the single-cell, tissue, and whole organism level.

	Milan Mrksich The Mrksich lab uses the tools of organic chemistry, materials science and biochemistry to address important challenges in and at the intersection of chemistry and biology.

	Arthur Prindle The Prindle Lab develops enabling technologies to characterize microbial communities and to engineer these microbes with the capacity to monitor and improve human health.

	Krishna Shrinivas

	Danielle Tullman-Ercek The Tullman-Ercek lab engineers nanoscale protein machines and assemblies to create novel materials, biochemicals, vaccines, and diagnostics.

	Keith Tyo The Tyo Lab is understanding and engineering how molecules interact with proteins to enable new enzymatic reactions and biosensing modalities.

	Lisa Volpatti

	Muzhou Wang The Wang lab engineers new tools to characterize the nanostructure and mechanical properties of biomaterials at high resolution and high throughput.