Image: The lasso peptide isopeptidase is widespread among alpha-proteobacteria encoding lasso peptides. Courtesy A. James Link.
Biomolecules, including DNA, RNA, proteins, peptides and the constellation of small molecules made by cells, are the molecules that fuel life. Biomolecular engineering is the analysis and engineering of these living systems. Our research uses techniques from synthetic biology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, and cell biology to quantify and manipulate the three-dimensional structure and function of molecules and macromolecular assemblies for potential medical applications.
Synthetic biology includes the development of biosensors or genetic circuits to assist in the design and optimization of metabolically engineered strains. An important tool in this area — recognized by the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded to Princeton Engineering alumna Frances Arnold — is directed evolution, which involves the generation of large libraries of protein mutants at the genetic level followed by screening or selection of functional variants.
Computational efforts in this area help illuminate the structure and conformations of biomolecules over a range of physiological environments, including unusual environments like subfreezing temperatures or solutions with high concentrations of denaturants.
Faculty
Metabolic Engineering; Synthetic Biology; Structural Biology and Protein Engineering; Systems Biology; Protein Biochemistry and Biophysics
Patterning in Developing Embryos; Physical Properties and Function of RNA/Protein Bodies; Architecture and Dynamics of the Cytoskeleton
Host-pathogen Interactions; Bacterial Persistence
Plant-Microbe Interactions; Systems Biology; Microbiome; Bacterial Genetics; Synthetic Biology; Enzymology
Ionized Gas Plasma-Aided Nanofabrication; Plasma Catalysis; Molecular Simulations of Plasma-Surface Interactions
Theory and simulation of biomolecular self-assembly; Design and bioengineering of protein/RNA compartments; Multiscale computational models
Protein Engineering; Peptides; Natural Products; Antibiotics; Microbiology; Genomics; Supramolecular Chemistry
Theory and simulation of soft/polymeric materials; computational materials design; multiscale simulation; machine-learning in molecular modeling
Associated Faculty
Bioelectronics, synthetic biology, microbiology, electrochemistry, cell-material interfaces, biophysics, environmental sensing.
Bioengineering: biomaterials, biomechanics, swarm behavior
Small-molecule-mediated interactions, the human microbiome in health and disease, metagenomics and computational biology, drug metabolism
Theory and simulation of molecular self-assembly; multicomponent fluids; biomolecules; design of soft materials
CRISPR-based technologies for studying viral and host RNA and to detect and destroy viral RNAs.
Molecular architecture and function of the microtubule cytoskeleton; X-ray crystallography and engineering; biophysical methods
Quantitative Analysis of Pattern Formation and Morphogenesis in Developing Tissues; Genetics, Genomics and Computation of Signaling Pathways
Cell Signaling Pathways; Cellular Optogenetics; High-resolution Microscopy; Biochemistry/Cell Biology; Systems Biology; Signal Processing
Molecular Self-organization; Protein Partitioning; Quantitative Proteomics
