Synthetic biologists produce CAD tools for RNA

December 22, 2011 –

Synthetic biology researchers at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory have developed computer assisted design (CAD)-type models and simulations for RNA molecules that make it possible to engineer biological components.

Image by Zosia Rostomian, Berkeley Lab

This advance holds great potential for microbial-based sustainable production of advanced biofuels, biodegradable plastics, therapeutic drugs and a host of other goods now derived from petrochemicals.

This research, “Model-driven engineering of RNA devices to quantitatively-program gene expression”, was published in the journal Science by Jay Keasling, Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and CEO of the Joint BioEnergy Institute, with co-authors James Carothers, Jonathan Goler and Darmawi Juminaga. Goler is a Ph.D. alumnus of the Berkeley – UCSF Bioengineering Graduate Program.

Read the full story at Berkeley Lab.