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Machine-guided design of synthetic cell type-specific cis-regulatory elements
S J Gosai1,2,3,4, R I Castro5, N Fuentes5,6
1Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|August 23, 2023
Summary
Scientists engineered synthetic cis-regulatory elements (CREs) that outperform natural ones. These novel CREs offer precise control over gene expression for specific cell types, advancing biotechnology and therapeutic applications.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Molecular Biology
- Synthetic Biology
Background:
- Cis-regulatory elements (CREs) are crucial for controlling gene expression, dictating cell identity and responses.
- Natural CREs may not be optimal for specific therapeutic or biotechnological needs.
- Engineering custom CREs with programmed cell type specificity is a significant challenge.
Conclusions:
- The developed platform provides a generalizable framework for prospectively engineering functional CREs.
- Synthetic CREs offer a powerful tool for precise gene regulation in biotechnology and therapeutic applications.
- This work establishes the ability to engineer regulatory code for fit-for-purpose in vivo applications.
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