Biophenomena Engineering
Over 10 million species of organisms exist on Earth, and the benefits these organisms have provided to humanity are immeasurable. For example, we have used microorganisms themselves for purposes like brewing, and have applied the unique molecules found in microorganisms for industrial and medical applications. Among the still undiscovered biological systems in nature, we believe there are some that hold the potential to bring even greater benefits to humanity. Our group is leveraging artificial intelligence to discover novel biological systems, analyze their functions, and engineer them into molecular tools, all with the goal of addressing the challenges faced by humanity.
Exploring Programmable Biological Systems
CRISPR-Cas9, which revolutionized genome editing, is an enzyme derived from prokaryotes that cleaves DNA in a programmable, RNA-guided manner. It has now become clear that the CRISPR-Cas system, beyond its nuclease activity, is often associated with other functions (such as transposase, protease, and more). Furthermore, even eukaryotes have been shown to possess CRISPR-Cas-like enzymes, such as Fanzor. We aim to explore such RNA-guided systems and, more broadly, “programmable” systems in nature, and apply them to control cellular functions.
Other exciting projects are underway! If you have any ideas you’d like to try for biophenomena engineering, please join our lab!!!