Molecular Systems Biology and Synthetic biology
Biology is being transformed by the recent invention of new technologies which make it possible to quantify precisely many cellular processes at multiple different scales. This also underpins our capacity to engineer biology to build synthetic biology constructs that can be used to manufacture new medicines or to create biosensors capable of detecting toxic compounds.
The course will cover the molecular basis of gene regulation and gene networks and how these can be understood as “gene circuits” similarly, at least to some extent, to electrical circuits. Cells are dynamic systems, and we will build intuition about the types of responses expected from different gene circuits by understanding how they be predicted using simple mathematical models. Throughout the course, we will discuss experimental techniques that allow direct comparison between theoretical models and real biological systems. We will also discuss real life examples and applications of synthetic biology tools.
Required level: at least one biology module in year 2.
Course language: English
ECTS credits: 4
- Teaching coordinator: El Karoui Meriem