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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Principles of Site-Specific Recombinase SSR Technology
Published on: May 29, 2008
Building with intent: technologies and principles for engineering mammalian cell-based therapies to sense and respond
Joseph J Muldoon1,2, Patrick S Donahue1,2,3, Taylor B Dolberg1
1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States.
Abstract:
The engineering of cells as programmable devices has enabled therapeutic strategies that could not otherwise be achieved. Such strategies include recapitulating and enhancing native cellular functions and composing novel functions. These novel functions may be composed using both natural and engineered biological components, with the latter exemplified by the development of synthetic receptor and signal transduction systems. Recent advances in implementing these approaches include the treatment of cancer, where the most clinical progress has been made to date, and the treatment of diabetes. Principles for engineering cell-based therapies that are safe and effective are increasingly needed and beginning to emerge, and will be essential in the development of this new class of therapeutics.
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