PhD Summer School on Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology: From Pro- to Eukaryotic Systems (SynBioSys)

Synthetic biology is the engineering of biology: the deliberate design and construction of novel biological parts and systems to perform new functions for useful purposes.

By drawing on principles derived from both biology and engineering, synthetic biology addresses a range of societal needs, among them the truly sustainable production of high-value compounds (e.g. pharmaceuticals), commodity chemicals, and even fuels.

While the field initially developed in the model organisms E. coli and baker’s yeast, a wide variety of different prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms are currently being engineered in the lab. In particular, synthetic biology in plants holds great promise for the enhancement of the yield and nutritional value of crop plants, which is one of the great challenges of the 21st century.

Course contents
The course will aim at a well-rounded presentation of synthetic biology through the discussion of selected topics across the DNA-RNA-protein-metabolite spectrum. Examples of topics are:

• DNA: Gene circuits and genome editing
• RNA: The long reach of non-coding RNA
• Protein: Protein degradation by design
• Metabolite: Transport engineering and retrobiosynthesis
• Special theme: Expanding the genetic code

The academic discussions will be complemented by a discussion on intellectual property rights and a visit to a local industry.

Teachers
Invited international speakers:

• Jason Chin, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK
• Kristala Prather, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
• Holger Puchta, Karlsruhe Insitute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
• Nathan Lord, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
• Nico Dissmeyer, Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle, Germany

The international speakers will be joined by a selected group of experts from UCPH, including the four CPSC Young Investigators (Stephan Wenkel, Mathias Pribil, Fernando Geu-Flores and Sebastian Marquardt).

Time and place
20-24 August 2018 at Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Thorvaldensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.

ECTS
4

Price
1500 DKK (200 Euro)

Learning outcome
After taking the course, the PhD students will be able to:

• Recognize the wide range of research fields currently applying the concepts of synthetic biology
• Mention a number of specific applications of synthetic biology
• Recognize the importance of intellectual property rights in the continuous development of the field
• Start applying the concepts of synthetic biology to their own PhD projects

Course organizers
Fernando Geu-Flores (chair) and Sebastian Marquardt (vice-chair).

Contact
CPSC center coordinator Lene Rasmussen lras@plen.ku.dk

Registration
To register please go to the registration page.

Flyer
Download the flyer for the course here.