The Engineering Biology Forums are a series of talks exploring key tools for the future of engineering biology and biotechnology. Hosted by the Engineering Biology Interdisciplinary Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, the forums will take place 5pm-8.30pm at the Old Divinity School, St Johns College, Cambridge. Keynote lectures and discussion session will be followed by food, drinks and networking.

Registration Close 3 May 6pm - after this time please email vr314@cam.ac.uk to register.

Thursday 4 May 2023

Designing the Next Generation of Bioengineered Tools for Health and Wellbeing

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Randall Platt (Live Speaker)

Title: Harnessing the CRISPR toolbox to engineer biology

Description: Molecular technologies enabling the high throughput interrogation of genetic elements fuels our capacity to understand and control complex biological systems. With current methodologies used in the field of biomedicine the rate at which genes are being associated with biological and disease processes has drastically outstripped the pace at which their causality can be tested and understood. There is also a treasure trove of biological information that is lost or hidden from us when using conventional snapshot experiments. In this lecture you will hear about how we are harnessing the CRISPR toolbox to engineer biology and overcome these challenges, specifically through developing tools and methods for in vivo CRISPR screens and engineered cells that record their own gene expression.

Bio: Randall J. Platt is an Associate Professor of Biological Engineering at the ETH Zurich; Associate Professor at the University of Basel; Botnar Research Center for Child Health Investigator; and NCCR Molecular Systems Engineering Investigator. His aim is to develop genetic perturbation and cellular programming technologies for diagnostics and therapeutics primarily in the areas of brain science and gut microbiome.

Randy’s major research interests include biological engineering, synthetic biology, functional genomics, and molecular medicine. His core research themes include engineering microbial cells to record and manipulate intestinal physiology and the gut microbiota (Schmidt, Nature, 2018; Schmidt, Science, 2022); the development of new gene editing methods with a particular focus on in vivo and multiplexing applications (Platt, Cell, 2014; Platt, Cell Reports, 2017; Campa, Nature Methods, 2019); and high throughput forward genetic screening in vivo in animal models to identify disease drivers, diagnostic biomarkers, drug targets, and delivery vectors (Chow, Nature Neuroscience, 2017; Wang, Science Advances, 2018).

Randy’s research accomplishments have earned numerous distinctions, including the MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35, Eppendorf Award for Young European Investigators, Stanisław Lem European Research Prize, EMBO Young Investigator, ETH Zurich Latsis Prize, Nature Research Award for Driving Global Impact, National Science Foundation Fellowship, Whitaker International Fellowship, and Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Scholar in Residence. He is an inventor on 100+ patents and patents pending and a co-founder of a biotechnology company in the area of engineered microbes and gastrointestinal therapeutics.

Dr Kiran Raosaheb Patil (Live Speaker)

Talk title: Engineering Biology without Genetic Engineering

Short description: Synthetic biology is opening new avenues to tackle emerging biotechnological and environmental challenges. While genetic engineering tools have enabled novel phenotypes, complexity of biological systems often limits applications to a few organisms and poses challenges such as collateral damage and stability. In this talk, I will discuss a complementary approach – precision evolution – towards engineering complex biological systems without explicit knowledge on genotype-phenotype relations.

Short Bio: Kiran studied Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai, India). Following his PhD in Systems Biology at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Kiran was appointed as Assistant Professor at DTU where he worked on transcriptional regulation and metabolic engineering. In 2010, Kiran was appointed Group Leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg, Germany). He joined the MRC Toxicology Unit (University of Cambridge) as Director of Research in 2019. His lab develops tools and model systems to decipher and modulate complex microbial interactions.

Ticket Types

Please register for either General Admission (in-person) or Online only (not both)

'General Admission' tickets include admission to the keynote talks, followed by the exhibition and reception. The reception will offer food and drink, along with a chance to meet with the speakers, network and chat with our demonstrators and exhibitors.

Keynote talks will be live-streamed for those who cannot make it in person. Please register for an 'Online Only' ticket and you will be sent confirmation and a joining link closer to the time.

Engineering Biology Forum May 2023