Closing the Loop on Synthetic Biology: Multiscale Modeling and Feedback Control of Living Systems
Synthetic biology has made it possible to program cells with increasingly sophisticated genetic circuits, yet these circuits rarely operate in isolation. They are embedded in growing, resource-limited cells whose physiology changes over time and across environments. This coupling between circuit function and host dynamics creates both challenges and opportunities for biological design.
In this seminar, I will discuss my group’s efforts to understand and control synthetic gene circuits as multiscale dynamical systems. I will first describe a growth-coupled modeling framework that explains emergent circuit behaviors in batch culture by linking molecular regulation, resource allocation, and population growth. I will then present our development of an optogenetic feedback-control platform that enables real-time regulation of gene expression in living cultures. Together, these studies show how mechanistic modeling and experimental control can be integrated to close the loop on synthetic biology.
will conclude by discussing how this framework can be extended toward dynamic biomanufacturing, robust non-model microbial chassis, and programmable living therapeutics, where precise control over cellular behavior is essential for both performance and safety.
Bio: Chelsea Hu, Ph.D. ’18, is an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University. She received her Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Cornell University and completed postdoctoral training at California Institute of Technology. Her research sits at the interface of synthetic biology, systems engineering, and dynamical control, with a focus on building quantitative frameworks and experimental platforms to model, measure, and control living systems. Her group develops multiscale models of gene circuit dynamics, optogenetic feedback-control platforms, and engineered microbial systems for applications in biomanufacturing and living therapeutics.