Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Programmable cells: interfacing natural and engineered gene networks.

Hideki Kobayashi1, Mads Kaern, Michihiro Araki

  • 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Center for BioDynamics, and Center for Advanced Biotechnology, Boston University, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|May 26, 2004
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Senescence modulated cardiac repair with pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes.

Stem cell research & therapy·2026
Same author

Study Protocol and Characteristics of the Wearable Device Survey for Tohoku Medical Megabank Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study.

Journal of epidemiology·2026
Same author

Self-induced dimensional reduction and scaling transition of mRNA in polysomes: A multiscale simulation study.

The Journal of chemical physics·2026
Same author

Advances in Modelling Radiative Transfer, Heat Storage and Turbulent Transport to Evaluate CO<sub>2</sub>, Heat and Water Fluxes Over Broad-Leaved Forests: The CanVeg2 Model.

Global change biology·2026
Same author

Atrial Fibrillation Management by Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Patients With Complex Congenital Heart Disease.

JACC. Asia·2026
Same author

Predictive Value of the HELT-E<sub>2</sub>S<sub>2</sub> Score for Clinical Outcomes After Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation　- Subanalysis of the Shinshu Catheter Ablation (Shinshu-AB) Registry.

Circulation reports·2026
Same journal

Chemotactic self-organization captures the dynamics of mammalian hair follicle patterning.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Tomographic imaging of superconducting order using particle-hole interference.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Inhibitory potential of autologous neutralizing antibodies sets quantitative limits on the rebound-competent HIV-1 reservoir.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Inferring epidemiological parameters under an infectious phylogeography model with visitor dynamics.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Analytical modeling for suction cup designs for skin-interfaced wearable devices.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same journal

Improving cell-free metabolism through direct integration of artificial respiratory chains.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
See all related articles

Engineered gene circuits enable programmable cellular behaviors. Researchers created Escherichia coli with genetic toggle switches that respond to DNA damage or cell density, demonstrating a step toward plug-and-play genetic circuitry.

Area of Science:

  • Synthetic biology
  • Genetic engineering
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Cells possess natural regulatory circuits that control their behavior.
  • Engineered gene networks can be coupled to these natural circuits to create novel cellular functions.
  • Programmable cellular responses are crucial for various biotechnological applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To demonstrate the use of an engineered genetic circuit for creating cells with predetermined and programmable responses to biological signals.
  • To engineer Escherichia coli strains with specific responses to DNA damage and cell population density.

Main Methods:

  • A modular design strategy was employed to create Escherichia coli strains.
  • A genetic toggle switch was interfaced with the SOS signaling pathway (DNA damage response) and a quorum sensing signaling pathway from Vibrio fischeri.

Related Experiment Videos

  • The engineered strains were analyzed for their response dynamics and phenotypic alterations.

    • Main Results:

    • The engineered genetic toggle switch provided binary response dynamics and epigenetic inheritance.
    • Escherichia coli strains were successfully engineered to form biofilms in response to DNA-damaging agents.
    • Cells were programmed to activate protein synthesis upon reaching a critical population density.

    Conclusions:

    • Engineered genetic circuitry can confer programmable behaviors onto cells.
    • The developed "plug-and-play" genetic circuit approach facilitates the creation of cells with tailored functionalities.
    • This work advances the development of synthetic biological systems for precise cellular control.