Light-driven synchronization of optogenetic clocks.

Synthetic genetic oscillators can serve as internal clocks within engineered cells to program periodic expression. However, cell-to-cell variability introduces a dispersion in the characteristics of these clocks that drives the population to complete desynchronization. Here, we introduce the optorepressilator, an optically controllable genetic clock that combines the repressilator, a three-node synthetic network in , with an optogenetic module enabling to reset, delay, or advance its phase using optical inputs.

Dynamic Gene Expression Mitigates Mutational Escape in Lysis-Driven Bacteria Cancer Therapy.

Engineered bacteria have the potential to deliver therapeutic payloads directly to tumors, with synthetic biology enabling precise control over therapeutic release in space and time. However, it remains unclear how to optimize therapeutic bacteria for durable colonization and sustained payload release. Here, we characterize nonpathogenic expressing the bacterial toxin Perfringolysin O (PFO) and dynamic strategies that optimize therapeutic efficacy.