This webinar, which took place on 22 October 2024, saw Kerstin Kinkelin (Bristol BioDesign Institute), Maddie Cass (BIA), and Anike Te (Lucideon) discuss the report and its recommendations.
These findings are intended for a variety of stakeholders with the aim of moving forward joint Swiss and UK challenges in the field of synthetic and engineering biology, and – in light of the climate crisis – emphasising the urgent need to accelerate the commercialisation of these technologies.
The Bristol BioDesign Institute co-hosted the Synthetic & Engineering Biology British-Swiss Summit at Bristol’s M-Shed on 22 May 2024. The inaugural event was devoted to understanding the opportunities presented by engineering biology technologies to drive innovation in healthcare, forging collaborations between Switzerland and the UK with a focus on environmental sustainability.
Ambassador Markus Leitner makes the opening address
The UK and Switzerland are both science superpowers. Collectively, they host ten of Europe’s top 20 research universities. Switzerland has ranked first in global innovation for the past decade and is home to several world-class research laboratories and multinational companies like Novartis. While the UK boasts a world-leading engineering biology community and forward-thinking policy, exemplified by the UK Government’s National Engineering Biology Vision published in December 2023.
Dr Sara Holland (Potter Clarkson), Dr Chrysi Sergaki (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) and Prof Imre Berger (University of Bristol) discuss commercialising research
A Memorandum of Understanding signed in November 2022 between the UK and Switzerland builds on a longstanding history of collaboration between the two countries, with detailed aspirations to encourage future cooperation in ‘deep science’ and ‘deep tech’ areas such as engineering biology.
The Summit, organised in partnership with the Swiss Business Hub UK & Ireland, the BioIndustry Association and Lucideon, aimed to bring together academic thought leaders and representatives from the life science and pharmaceutical industries. These included key Government officials, including members of the UK Government’s newly appointed Engineering Biology Steering Committee regulators, specialist start-up incubators such as Science Creates (Bristol) and BaseLaunch (Basel), and focused investment firms to identify bilateral opportunities for commercialisation through innovation, and policy and diplomacy in science and innovation.
“Bringing together scientists, industry leaders and start-up entrepreneurs from both countries will foster the exchange of ideas, forge new partnerships, and catalyse new initiatives that will shape the future of synthetic and engineering biology.”
Anike Te chairs debate on cell engineering
The Summit took a deep dive into future perspectives in cell engineering, bioprocessing and scale up, AI-driven solutions in synthetic and engineering biology, and accelerating the translation of fundamental research to commercial uptake.
Anike Te, Aegis Professor of Engineering Biology at the University of Bristol and Chief Strategy Officer at Lucideon, added: “Innovation is essential for solving the global challenges we face today. Engineering biology has the potential to provide many of these solutions. The UK and Switzerland are important countries for innovation and it is inspiring to see more collaboration in synthetic and engineering biology.”
Tay Salimullah during his opening keynote address
Inspiring keynote talks were presented by Tay Salimullah (right), VP, Head US & Global Commercial, Value & Access, and Member of the Executive Committee at Novartis Gene Therapies and Dr Harry Destecroix, founder of Science Creates and co-founder of Ziylo, the hugely successful University of Bristol spin-out company.
Spotlight pitches from UK and Swiss engineering biology start-ups highlighted some of the most recent innovations entering the market.
(All images: First Avenue Photography)
(The news story was first published by University of Bristol)
Themes covered at the conference included biomolecular design and engineering; cell and system-level design; synthetic and minimal cells; data-centric bioengineering, and applications across industry.
Congratulations to Prof Stephen Wallace, who was awarded the prestigious Colworth Medal and gave a talk on the development of ‘plastic-eating E. coli that can efficiently turn polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste into adipic acid, which is used to make nylon materials, drugs and fragrances’.
Further congratulations to the oral and poster prize recipients:
Best oral communication: Sarah Guiziou (Earlham Institute)
Registration is now open. The deadline for submitting abstracts (and for early registration) is Wednesday 6 September 2023.
Synthetic biology is a maturing field at the confluence of the biosciences, physical sciences, information technology, and engineering and is rapidly beginning to demonstrate valuable solutions to some of our most pressing global challenges in healthcare, agriculture, sustainability and the environment.
SBUK 2023 will bring the synthetic and engineering biology communities together in Bristol, a city with a rich and long-standing history in engineering and a vibrant research community in synthetic biology, to share recent scientific advancements across the field. Conference themes will include biomolecular design and engineering; cell and system-level design; synthetic and minimal cells; data-centric bioengineering, and applications across industry.
The diverse and inclusive programme will include opportunities for networking, and an emphasis will be placed on ensuring the event offers early career researchers with the vital opportunities needed to build their wider research networks with leading experts in the field, as well as gain insights into careers in industry, SMEs, policy, academia and innovation delivery.
As part of City Nature Challenge 2022, a team of PhD candidates at the University of Bristol have led hands-on, family-friendly public engagement activities explaining how the cutting edge science of environmental DNA (eDNA) sequencing can be used to identify local wildlife. DNA sequencing has been taking place in universities and research labs for half a century, but the Bento Lab – a portable, hand-held DNA lab – is allowing citizen scientists to study the DNA of living things around them. The University of Bristol team used a series of escape room-like activities to bring to life the processes involved in using the Bento Lab.
The activities took place in Queen Square, Castle Park and Tyntesfield in Bristol, and were led by (l-r) Matt Tarnowski, Claire Noble, Hannah Langlands, Harry Thompson and Rosie Maddock.
An activity introducing the microscopic world of biology at our fingertips
DNA can be collected from inside an organism’s cells in a process that is a bit like popping a balloon. This was the first task to participants had to do – the balloon had been filled with the letters G, T, C, A to represent DNA – and they then extracted the ‘DNA’ using a pipette. As it is hard to study DNA from so few cells, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify a particular DNA sequence within the cells. Attendees had to figure out how the PCR process works using coloured dominoes, and all succeeded in understanding that it involves repeatedly doubling the targeted DNA.
This amplified DNA can be selected using gel electrophoresis, which was demonstrated using a noisy rain-stick. The final step is sequencing the DNA, and participants enjoyed donning a cape to give them the ‘superpower’ of being able to read DNA. Since these lab tasks would take hours with the Bento Lab, environmental samples that were brought along were taken away for identification, and attendees will be notified of their species once analysed.
Interactive activities brought eDNA sampling, PCR, the Bento Lab & DNA sequencing to life (l-r)
Putting the mobile eDNA lab to the test
Some creatures, such as fungi or microorganisms, can be hard to spot, yet play essential roles in the environment. The next stop for the Bento Lab is to assess fungal diversity at a site of ecological restoration. The Refungium at Coed Talylan in Wales aims to foster the highest diversity of fungi in the UK. The Refungium will be a refuge for native mushrooms, and studying the fungi there with the Bento Lab will inform restoration of this 15-hectare semi-natural woodland.
Would you like to host the eDNA lab?
We welcome opportunities to share this portable workshop, be it at a school, college, university or festival. With activities for all ages, this citizen science experiment has the potential to inspire the next generation of bioscientists and stewards of the environment. As well as learning how eDNA studies work, it opens up conversations about genetics, synthetic biology, ecology, microbiology, sustainability, climate change and responsible research. These themes mesh with the sustainability and climate change strategy recently shared by the UK’s Department for Education. If you would like to host the eDNA lab, please write to us.
Matthew Tarnowski, Claire Noble, Hannah Langlands, Rosie Maddock and Harry Thompson developed this project, which was funded by the EPSRC/BBSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Synthetic Biology (SynBio CDT) Outreach Award.
Representatives from the French Embassy visited University labs on 10 December to see some of the innovative COVID-19 research being undertaken at Bristol, including work on ADDomer™, a thermostable vaccine platform being developed by Bristol scientists to combat emerging infectious diseases.
Dr Rachel Millet and Arthur Belaud from the Embassy’s Innovation Branch, which seeks to drive France-UK business enterprise, met with scientists Professor Imre Berger and Frederic Garzoni, founders of Imophoron Ltd, the biotech start-up developing ADDomer that uses technology developed at an institution in France, and recently secured £4 million investment.
L to R: Arthur Belaud from the French Embassy, Dr Anne Westcott from the University, Dr Rachel Millet from the French Embassy and Professor Imre Berger at the University’s Max Planck Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology.
During the visit, the delegation took a tour of labs in the University’s Max Planck-Bristol Centre for Minimal Biology (MPBC), the GW4/Wellcome Trust Cryo-EM facility led by Prof Christiane Schaffitzel, and Science Creates, the Bristol-based incubator, which is operated in partnership with the University and supports scientists and engineers in commercialising ground-breaking innovations. Having recently opened its second facility in the city’s Old Market, the party met with Science Creates founder and Bristol graduate Dr Harry Destecroix to discuss the future of deep-tech eco-systems.
Professor Imre Berger, Director of Bristol’s Max Planck Centre for Minimal Biology, said: “We are honoured to host this visit from the French Embassy’s Innovation Branch to share knowledge and showcase the pioneering research that is being done in collaboration with our European colleagues and institutions.”
Press release issued: 10 December 2021 on University of Bristol News and Features~ article here.
This webinar is a spotlight on plant synthetic biology, featuring three rising stars in one dynamic interactive session. Three early career researchers, hosted by Dr. Thomas Gorochowski and Dr. Emily Larson, discuss plant biology topics including reprogramming plant root growth, genome engineering, and the biodesign potential of marchantia polymorpha. The speakers include:
Dr. Jennifer Brophy (keynote) – ‘Reprogramming plant root growth using synthetic developmental regulation.’
Dr Quentin Dudley – ‘Genome engineering of Nicotiana benthamiana as an improved plant-based bioproduction system for medicinal alkaloids.’
Dr Eftychis Frangedakis – ‘Marchantia polymorpha: an emerging system for plant synthetic biology.’
You can watch the full recording, including Q&A here:
The Bristol BioDesign Institute‘s newly imagined webinar series for 2021 has been designed as a platform to invite the best international speakers that are aligned to our core areas of interest. These include; biomolecular design and assembly in the cell, development and delivery of bioactive molecules, minimal biology towards cell-like systems, advanced computing and digital biology. You can find our upcoming speakers for the year on the International Webinar Series section of our website.
The first speaker of 2021 is Professor Elisa Franco from UCLA, with BBI Directors, Thomas Gorochowski and Dek Woolfson, panelling. The seminar is followed by an audience Q&A session, and then a one-to-one interview where Dr. Gorochowski asks Professor Franco questions about how she got into synthetic biology and her predictions for its future.
You can watch Professor Franco’s seminar, on ‘Programming dynamic behaviors in molecular systems and materials‘ below, or on the BBI YouTube Channel.
Abstract – Biological cells adapt, replicate, and self-repair in ways that are unmatched by man-made devices. These processes are enabled by the interplay of receptors, gene networks, and self-assembling cytoskeletal scaffolds. Taking inspiration from this architecture, we follow a reductionist approach to build synthetic materials by interconnecting nucleic acid components with the capacity to sense, compute, and self-assemble. Nucleic acids are versatile molecules whose interactions and kinetic behaviors can be rationally designed from their sequence content; further, they are relevant in a number of native and engineered cellular pathways, as well as in biomedical and nanotechnology applications. I will illustrate our approach with two examples. The first is the construction of self-assembling DNA scaffolds that can be programmed to respond to environmental inputs and to canonical molecular signal generators such as pulse generators and oscillators. The second is the encapsulation of these dynamic scaffolds in droplets serving as a mimic of cellular compartments. I will stress how mathematical modeling and quantitative characterization can help identify design principles, guide experiments, and explain observed phenomena.
Since the start of lockdown 1.0 in March 2020, the BBI has been hosting a series of virtual seminars. Speakers have included Professors Anne Osbourn, Christine Orengo, Andreas Plueckthun, and many others. Lockdown has allowed us to broaden our speaker base on an international level, with academics from the US, Israel and Switzerland.
On 11 November, we had Professor Domitilla Del Vecchio from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) give a webinar on ‘Context dependence of biological circuits: Predictive models and engineering solutions’. Panellists for the event were some of our own University of Bristol academics Dr. Thomas Gorochowski and Prof. Claire Grierson.
You can watch the full recording of the webinar here:
Written by SynBio CDT students Claire Noble and Harry Thompson.
Do we have any chance of designing new ribosomes from scratch? Maybe not just yet, but that doesn’t mean Jon Bath, from the University of Oxford, isn’t getting started. While DNA origami hasn’t always been as glamorous as the world of protein design, that doesn’t mean there isn’t lots of exciting potential for new, DNA-based biomachinery.
The relatively simple nature of DNA folding based on base pairing has allowed for the construction of intricate and beautiful DNA structures. However, the field of designing DNA structure towards novel functionality is still being explored. In the past, DNA has been shown to be capable of moving along short tracks and assembling simple polymers in a directed way. Jon Bath is seeking to gain a deeper fundamental understanding of what dictates higher level folding in DNA origami, so that more complex designs can be attempted. He is making use of comparatively ‘simple’ DNA structures, with uncommon motif’s such as T-junctions, to try and elucidate the mechanisms behind self-assembly of complex origami.
By increasing our understanding of how DNA folds, design principles can then be applied towards constructions of functional origamis, of which there have been relatively few examples so far. A brave new world of DNA templated chemistry and molecular motors awaits!
Over 300 people from 45 institutions in 11 countries attended the 
We would like to thank all the invited speakers (
Congratulations to 
