Systems Synthetic and Physical Biology

Matthew Bennett

Grant backs effort to build useful bacterial colonies

Rice scientists have won a grant to advance the development of custom-designed microbial colonies for a variety of applications.

worms

Light flips genetic switch in bacteria inside transparent worms

Researchers from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have shown that colored light can both activate and deactivate genes of gut bacteria in the intestines of worms. The research shows how optogenetic technology can be used to investigate the health impacts of gut bacteria.

Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have developed a platform, SPOTlight, that speeds the sorting of cells while making the process more versatile. As a proof-of-concept, they created the most photostable yellow fluorescent protein yet. (Credit: Illustration by Jihwan Lee/Rice University)

SPOTlight supercharges cell studies

Researchers develop a new method to isolate specific cells, and in the process find a more robust fluorescent protein.

Diagram illustrating how a C-worthy technique that dramatically enhances the accuracy of gene editing.

‘Bystander’ Cs meet their match in gene-editing technique

Biomolecular engineers at Rice have developed new tools to increase the accuracy of CRISPR single-base editing to treat genetic diseases.

Rice University scientists are analyzing the role of ferredoxin proteins produced when viral phages alter electron transfer in ocean-dwelling, photosynthetic bacteria that produce oxygen and store carbon. When the virus (pink) infects the bacteria, it produces a ferredoxin protein that hooks into the bacteria’s existing electrical structure and alters its metabolism. (Credit: Illustration by Ian Campbell/Rice University)

Ocean virus hijacks carbon-storing bacteria

Rice scientists are analyzing the role of ferredoxin proteins produced when viral phages alter electron transfer in ocean-dwelling bacteria that produce oxygen and store carbon.

Illustration by Ilenne Del Valle/Rice University

Ordering in? Plants are way ahead of you

Dissolved carbon in soil can quench plants' ability to communicate with soil microbes, allowing plants to fine-tune their relationships with symbionts. Experiments show how synthetic biology tools developed at Rice University can help understand environmental controls on agricultural productivity.

Caroline Ajo-Franklin joined Rice University as a professor of biosciences with funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. (Credit: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

CPRIT grant bolsters Rice biosciences

Rice University recruits synthetic biologist Caroline Ajo-Franklin with a $6 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to bolster the university’s cutting-edge Systems, Synthetic and Physical Biology program.