The goal is to develop synthetic gene networks in living, mammalian cells to i) develop novel types of cell therapy and ii) to understand basic functions in living cells.
Mammalian synthetic Biology holds vast potential in diagnostics and can provide tools to identify and rapidly interrupt disease. For example, cells engineered as biosensors for disease biomarkers could activate production of a therapeutic protein. Biosensing engineered cell lines could be used as cell therapy to combat chronic diseases. Cells that contain synthetic circuits could be used to understand basic functions of living systems, including cell-cell communication and receptor-mediated interactions between cells.