Engineering Fellowships for Growth: Development of SimCells as building blocks for synthetic biology
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Oxford
Department Name: Engineering Science
Abstract
The vision of this Fellowship is to establish an unprecedented new bioengineering platform for synthetic biology - the SimCell (Simple and Simulated Cell) that performs advanced bioengineering functions in an easy-to-use, safe-to-handle, and reliable-to-build manner. The aim of this fellowship is to develop SimCells as programmable 'bio-robots' and establish the foundation for standardised engineering applications of SimCells. SimCells have the potential to open up a new frontier, enabling the development of new and smart materials for bioprocessing and manufacturing, bioenergy, healthcare, agriculture and environmental monitoring and protection. Unlike a living cell, a SimCell is a chromosome-free and simplified cellular bio-robot; its 'hardware' is the optimised 'shell' of a cell which enables specific cellular properties; and its 'software' is a piece of DNA which delivers the defined functions. The optimised shell and simple DNA in SimCells enables them faithfully delivering most of their energy and resources to a specific function without interference of unwanted pathways and networks in a natural cell. A SimCell is a non-dividing, biochemically active, designable and simplified agent, which can be continuously produced by engineered parent cells, but which cannot reproduce itself, making it more acceptable to public opinion than living genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The Fellowship is truly revolutionary, transforming current synthetic biology based on living cells or cell-free system by providing an intermediate building block between them and taking advantages of both. It directly addresses three of five great challenges of synthetic biology by establishing novel SimCells as predictable, simple, safe and programmable bio-robots. The application of SimCells would lead to address one of challenges in 'the third industrial revolution' - bioenergy.
To demonstrate SimCells as miniature factories with high energy transfer efficiency, a bio-transformation system will be designed to produce biofuels (such as ethanol and alkanes) from H2O and CO2, mediated by SimCells and powered by electrons and sunlight. This will be built on the established synthetic pathways developed by WH's previous research and patents. The outcomes of this Fellowship will set a bioenergy benchmark to which other long-term projects will aspire, and will also create the infrastructure for a wide range of applications.
The Fellowship is truly revolutionary, transforming current synthetic biology based on living cells or cell-free system by providing an intermediate building block between them and taking advantages of both. It directly addresses three of five great challenges of synthetic biology by establishing novel SimCells as predictable, simple, safe and programmable bio-robots. The application of SimCells would lead to address one of challenges in 'the third industrial revolution' - bioenergy.
To demonstrate SimCells as miniature factories with high energy transfer efficiency, a bio-transformation system will be designed to produce biofuels (such as ethanol and alkanes) from H2O and CO2, mediated by SimCells and powered by electrons and sunlight. This will be built on the established synthetic pathways developed by WH's previous research and patents. The outcomes of this Fellowship will set a bioenergy benchmark to which other long-term projects will aspire, and will also create the infrastructure for a wide range of applications.
Planned Impact
The beneficiaries of SimCells research are wide ranging and there are a variety of routes in which to impact on the bioeconomy. SimCells will be developed as user-oriented 'bio-robots' with novel and controllable functions. Since they are non-living organisms, SimCells are a safe and robust enzyme system, which potentially can be purchased by end-users and used as building blocks by 3-D printers to build novel devices.
The strategic route to implement the impact is to establish a UK academic-Industry SimCell research club to rapidly disseminate the technology to the relevant companies in the UK, and expand the impact of the project to overseas market. The objectives of this SimCell club are:
1) To identify key area of SimCell applications;
2) To establish a pathway to commercialisation;
3) To promote making prototype products;
4) To explore opportunity of Intellectual Property (IP) issues;
5) To spin out a company by working with Sheffield Research and Innovation Services
The primary route for dissemination and acceleration of impact will be via the SimCell club, open source platforms in order to extend the reach and accessibility of research. This fellowship will enable the establishment of a SimCell bank, which allows users to submit and share data on the performance and characterisation of SimCells. Beneficiaries will be able to utilise the SimCells building blocks in developing bespoke solutions to engineering challenges. Usage of the research outputs will be encouraged via presentations, seminars and lectures at other institutes and related conferences. Exploitation of SimCells in conjunction with industrial partners and sponsors, will begin with applications in specific engineering challenges to ensure the high-value uptake of the SimCells platform.
The strategic route to implement the impact is to establish a UK academic-Industry SimCell research club to rapidly disseminate the technology to the relevant companies in the UK, and expand the impact of the project to overseas market. The objectives of this SimCell club are:
1) To identify key area of SimCell applications;
2) To establish a pathway to commercialisation;
3) To promote making prototype products;
4) To explore opportunity of Intellectual Property (IP) issues;
5) To spin out a company by working with Sheffield Research and Innovation Services
The primary route for dissemination and acceleration of impact will be via the SimCell club, open source platforms in order to extend the reach and accessibility of research. This fellowship will enable the establishment of a SimCell bank, which allows users to submit and share data on the performance and characterisation of SimCells. Beneficiaries will be able to utilise the SimCells building blocks in developing bespoke solutions to engineering challenges. Usage of the research outputs will be encouraged via presentations, seminars and lectures at other institutes and related conferences. Exploitation of SimCells in conjunction with industrial partners and sponsors, will begin with applications in specific engineering challenges to ensure the high-value uptake of the SimCells platform.
Organisations
- University of Oxford (Fellow, Lead Research Organisation)
- Beijing National Institute for Laboratory and Inspection Body (Collaboration)
- Tsinghua University China (Collaboration)
- Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) (Collaboration)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- University of Sheffield (Collaboration)
- Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (Collaboration)
- Suzhou Industry Park (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH (Collaboration)
- Newcastle University (Project Partner)
- University of Vienna (Project Partner)
- Tata Group UK (Project Partner)
- InCelliGen Inc (Project Partner)
- Perlemax Ltd (Project Partner)
Publications
Berry D
(2015)
Tracking heavy water (D2O) incorporation for identifying and sorting active microbial cells.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Chao HJ
(2016)
HipH Catalyzes the Hydroxylation of 4-Hydroxyisophthalate to Protocatechuate in 2,4-Xylenol Catabolism by Pseudomonas putida NCIMB 9866.
in Applied and environmental microbiology
Chen JX
(2019)
Development of Aspirin-Inducible Biosensors in Escherichia coli and SimCells.
in Applied and environmental microbiology
Chen JX
(2021)
Redesign of ultrasensitive and robust RecA gene circuit to sense DNA damage.
in Microbial biotechnology
Chen XJ
(2021)
Rational Design and Characterization of Nitric Oxide Biosensors in E. coli Nissle 1917 and Mini SimCells.
in ACS synthetic biology
Cui L
(2017)
Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Combined with Stable Isotope Probing to Monitor Nitrogen Assimilation at Both Bulk and Single-Cell Level.
in Analytical chemistry
Cui L
(2016)
Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Identification of Heavy Metal Arsenic(V)-Mediated Enhancing Effect on Antibiotic Resistance.
in Analytical chemistry
Davison PA
(2022)
Engineering a Rhodopsin-Based Photo-Electrosynthetic System in Bacteria for CO2 Fixation.
in ACS synthetic biology
Fan C
(2019)
Defensive Function of Transposable Elements in Bacteria.
in ACS synthetic biology
Fan C
(2020)
Chromosome-free bacterial cells are safe and programmable platforms for synthetic biology.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Hsu CC
(2020)
A single-cell Raman-based platform to identify developmental stages of human pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons.
in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Huang WE
(2015)
Single cell biotechnology to shed a light on biological 'dark matter' in nature.
in Microbial biotechnology
Jiang B
(2020)
Whole-cell bioreporters for evaluating petroleum hydrocarbon contamination
in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology
Jing X
(2018)
Raman-activated cell sorting and metagenomic sequencing revealing carbon-fixing bacteria in the ocean.
in Environmental microbiology
Jing X
(2022)
Revealing CO2-Fixing SAR11 Bacteria in the Ocean by Raman-Based Single-Cell Metabolic Profiling and Genomics.
in Biodesign research
Liang B
(2019)
Raman profiling of embryo culture medium to identify aneuploid and euploid embryos.
in Fertility and sterility
Liang P
(2022)
Isolation and Culture of Single Microbial Cells by Laser Ejection Sorting Technology
in Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Lim B
(2022)
Reprogramming Synthetic Cells for Targeted Cancer Therapy.
in ACS synthetic biology
Martin LK
(2021)
Bacterial wax synthesis.
in Biotechnology advances
Ng C
(2021)
Genetic engineering biofilms in situ using ultrasound-mediated DNA delivery
in Microbial Biotechnology
Ng CK
(2020)
Elevated intracellular cyclic-di-GMP level in Shewanella oneidensis increases expression of c-type cytochromes.
in Microbial biotechnology
Nielsen J
(2023)
Growth-coupled enzyme engineering through manipulation of redox cofactor regeneration
in Biotechnology Advances
Rampley CPN
(2020)
River toxicity assessment using molecular biosensors: Heavy metal contamination in the Turag-Balu-Buriganga river systems, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
in The Science of the total environment
Rampley CPN
(2017)
Development of SimCells as a novel chassis for functional biosensors.
in Scientific reports
Song Y
(2016)
Raman activated cell sorting.
in Current opinion in chemical biology
Song Y
(2017)
Raman-Deuterium Isotope Probing for in-situ identification of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in Thames River.
in Scientific reports
Song Y
(2017)
Single-cell genomics based on Raman sorting reveals novel carotenoid-containing bacteria in the Red Sea.
in Microbial biotechnology
Song Y
(2019)
Proteorhodopsin Overproduction Enhances the Long-Term Viability of Escherichia coli.
in Applied and environmental microbiology
Tao Y
(2017)
Metabolic-Activity-Based Assessment of Antimicrobial Effects by D2O-Labeled Single-Cell Raman Microspectroscopy.
in Analytical chemistry
Teng L
(2016)
Label-free, rapid and quantitative phenotyping of stress response in E. coli via ramanome.
in Scientific reports
Tu W
(2023)
Rhodopsin driven microbial CO2 fixation using synthetic biology design.
in Environmental microbiology
Wang Y
(2016)
Single cell stable isotope probing in microbiology using Raman microspectroscopy.
in Current opinion in biotechnology
Wang Y
(2016)
Reverse and Multiple Stable Isotope Probing to Study Bacterial Metabolism and Interactions at the Single Cell Level
in Analytical Chemistry
Wang Y
(2020)
Raman-deuterium isotope probing to study metabolic activities of single bacterial cells in human intestinal microbiota.
in Microbial biotechnology
Wang Y
(2020)
Raman-activated sorting of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in human gut microbiota.
in Environmental microbiology
Webb IUC
(2021)
Regulation and Characterization of Mutants of fixABCX in Rhizobium leguminosarum.
in Molecular plant-microbe interactions : MPMI
Xu J
(2017)
Label-Free Discrimination of Rhizobial Bacteroids and Mutants by Single-Cell Raman Microspectroscopy.
in Analytical chemistry
Xu J
(2019)
Single-Cell and Time-Resolved Profiling of Intracellular Salmonella Metabolism in Primary Human Cells.
in Analytical chemistry
Xu J
(2017)
Raman Deuterium Isotope Probing Reveals Microbial Metabolism at the Single-Cell Level.
in Analytical chemistry
Yuan X
(2018)
Effect of Laser Irradiation on Cell Function and Its Implications in Raman Spectroscopy.
in Applied and environmental microbiology
Zeng H
(2021)
Understanding and mathematical modelling of cellular resource allocation in microorganisms: a comparative synthesis.
in BMC bioinformatics
Zhang Q
(2015)
Towards high-throughput microfluidic Raman-activated cell sorting
in The Analyst
| Description | A SimCell is a simple and simulated cell whose chromosome has been removed and replaced with designed DNA. SimCells are continuously produced by designed parent cells, and its 'hardware' is the optimised 'shell' of a cell, which enables specific cellular properties; its 'software' is a piece of designed DNA which delivers defined functions. A SimCell is non-dividing, biochemically active, designable platform for synthetic biology. It is an artificial cellular machine system falling between a living cell and a cell-free system, taking advantage of the machinery of living cells on the one hand, and of the safe, controllable and predictable performance of cell-free in-vitro gene expression systems on the other. SimCells can be regarded as smart bioparticles, which have a broad application to cancer diagnosis and treatment, biofuel production, biosensing for environmental pollutions, and bio-inks for 3D cell printing. |
| Exploitation Route | Five ways to disseminate the findings: 1. Seminar and conference talks. For example, I will give a talk on a Gordon Conference: Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels to demonstrate that how to apply SimCells for biofuel production. 2. Journal paper publications. 3. Workshops. Oxford will organise a few workshop to discuss industry collaboration focusing on SimCell application. 4. Industry application. We are in the process of application of Simcells for controlling stem cell differentiation by collaborating with regenerative medicine centre in Oxford. 5. Working with public media. We will meet public media such as New Scientist to report our findings. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | 1. Two biosensor strains have been adopted as national standards for toxicity detection in contaminated water including fresh water and seawater. The standardisation is at the stage of waiting for final approval. 2. Based on the technology developed by this project, Oxford University and investors have set up two spin-off companies: Oxford Molecular Biosensors (www.omb.co.uk) and Oxford SimCell Ltd (https://oxfordsimcell.com/). 3. A patent about SimCells (simple and simulated cells) technology has been filed on 25th Oct 2019. Flagship Pioneering Ltd in the US and Merck Co have expressed the interest and have paid the option agreement to discuss with Oxford University about the licensing. SimCell patent has been updated to show that it can be used to treat cancer (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssynbio.1c00631) and neutralise virus such as SARS-CoV-2. 4. SimCell technology will be used to as a novel system for drug delivery, working with Novo Nordisk and other international companies. 5. SimCell technology has been demonstrated that it can be used as novel vaccines. Animal testing carried out by commercial company shows that SimCells are safe agents for vaccines. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Creative Economy,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | Associate Editor of Synthetic biology for Microbial Biotechnology Journal |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | I served as an associate editor of Microbial Biotechnology from 2019. I am responsible for synthetic biology section. Typical contributions consist of short pieces (1000-1500 words, at most one display item) reporting new concepts, raising questions (including those challenging conventional wisdom or established tenets) and outlines for new applied and basic endeavours. It influences the policy makers, provides education to the public and stimulates the discussion in academia. |
| URL | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1751-7915.13337 |
| Description | Biosensors were applied to water quality modelling and management |
| Geographic Reach | Africa |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Over 2 days (Feb 4-5th 2020) Prof Paul Whitehead gave a training course on Water Quality Modelling at the Water and Land Resource Centre at Addis Ababa University. 13 people attended from a range of catchment authorities in Ethiopia representing the Awash River, the Blue Nile and the Rift Valley River systems. In addition, stakeholders from the Federal EPA for Ethiopia attended. Following introductory lectures on water quality modelling, Paul distributed copies of the INCA training model for flow, nitrate and ammonia and extensive training/practical sessions were undertaken. The new versions of INCA set up for the Awash River system were provided and a set of scenarios for point source and agricultural runoff were evaluated. In addition, new model setups for the INCA Metals model version were established to model metals in the Awash, Akiki and Rift Valley catchments. Sets of scenarios were evaluated to evaluate potential clean up scenarios with most concern over the highly toxic Chromium, lead, zinc and cadmium coming from Tannery effluents. Paul also gave a presentation on Biosensors for cell and genetic toxicity in contaminated rivers, lakes and soils. This was also of interest to Ethiopian colleagues because of the need to rapidly determine water toxicity in a rural environment. The Biosensors provide this possibility-see recently published paper below. This training workshop was funded by the DFID REACH programme as part of the Oxford Reach Programme -- see www.reachwater.org.uk |
| Description | National standard for toxicity detection in contaminated water |
| Geographic Reach | Asia |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | Chinese government has adopted two biosensors as national standards for ocean contamination monitoring. |
| Description | Training Oxford Synbio DTC students |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Engineering new capacities for solar energy utilisation in bacteria |
| Amount | £4,248,968 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/M000265/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2015 |
| End | 01/2020 |
| Description | Liquid Fuel and bioEnergy Supply from CO2 Reduction |
| Amount | £1,924,296 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/N009746/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2016 |
| End | 12/2020 |
| Title | Novel technology to generate SimCells |
| Description | We developed a novel method to generate chromosome-free SimCells. Flagship Pioneering Ltd in the US is under discussion with Oxford University about the licensing. |
| Type Of Material | Biological samples |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | A patent has been filed on 25th Oct 2019, GB201711660D0. The patent has attracted the attention from Flagship Pioneering Ltd. The paper has been published at a prestigious journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). |
| URL | https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/03/02/1918859117.long |
| Description | CAS Bioenergy collaboration |
| Organisation | Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Prof Jian Xu is Director of BioEnergy Directorate, Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, has established a formal collaboration with me on bioenergy research. They will characterise novel gene from algae, which will be introduced into our SimCells to biofuel production. |
| Collaborator Contribution | He has visited Oxford in Dec 2015. He has paid my travelling, accommodation cost (about CYN20K) to visit China and give a talk in his institute. He would like to pay and get a licence for this technology. |
| Impact | We are in the process of commercialization collaboration. |
| Start Year | 2007 |
| Description | Collaboration with Baojun Wang on SimCell biosesors |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Department | School of Biological Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Our SimCell biosensor can be applied to contaminant detection without issue of genetically modified organisms (GMO). SimCells can be used as novel and safe chassis for gene circuit for chemical sensing systems and applied to the problems of the real world. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Baojun Wang is a research fellow at Edinburgh University, who is developing gene amplifier to enhance biosensor sensitivity. We collaborate to apply the gene amplifier to SimCells which can be further developed as biosensor for the detection of drinking water contamination. |
| Impact | We are in the process of paper preparation. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Collaboration with Prof Neil Hunter |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Department | Department of Music |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This research is also involved in BBSRC funded sLoLa project: Engineering new capacities for solar energy utilisation in bacteria (BB/M000265/1). Prof Neil Hunter, FRS is a PI of this project. We plan to use SimCells as novel catalysts for light energy harvesting and make products. |
| Collaborator Contribution | I am a Co-I of this BBSRC sLoLa project (BB/M000265/1) which offers a postdoc researcher (jointly with Prof Neil Hunter at Sheffield University) and cover some of my time. |
| Impact | We are currently prepare three research papers. |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | Collaboration with Prof Petra Oyston in DSTL |
| Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Confidential |
| Collaborator Contribution | Confidential |
| Impact | Confidential |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Partnership with Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute China |
| Organisation | Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (JITRI) has funded a collaboration via Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR). We constructed a series of biosensor in Oxford, which are potentially useful to real world problems. |
| Collaborator Contribution | In July-October 2018, JITRI funded 300k RMB to understand the biosensor technology and investigate the market. A further investment via OSCAR is still on going. |
| Impact | JITRI has agreed that biosensors we developed are very useful to monitor environmental pollution in China. JITRI is planning to invest further in OSCAR on biosensors. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership with National Institute for Laboratory and Inspection Body China |
| Organisation | Beijing National Institute for Laboratory and Inspection Body |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We developed a series of biosensors which can be applied to environmental pollution monitoring, medical diagnosis and biomanufacturing. |
| Collaborator Contribution | National Institute for Laboratory and Inspection Body (hereinafter referred to as "CNLAB") is a comprehensive service research institute which undertakes mandatory approval and accreditation, standard revision and establishment, technical training, technical consulting, international communication and marketing for inspection bodies and laboratories in China. The institute has professional research team, marvellous technical ability, top expert team, completed curriculum design, rich training experience and smooth information resources. It is the technical support institute for the national mandatory approval management department, national accreditation organisation and inspection body and laboratory. CNLAB will provide free consultancy for standardisation of biosensors and provide government advise about use of biosensors to diagnosis, environmental pollution monitoring and manufacturing. |
| Impact | A MOU has been signed between Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) and CNLAB. CNLAB will organise a workshop to market biosensor technology that developed in Oxford. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership with Suzhou Industry Park |
| Organisation | Suzhou Industry Park |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We develop technologies for preventing pollution, stimulating microbial clean-up of waste waters, and their biotransformation to high value chemicals. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) is wholly governed by Oxford University. Located in China, and more specifically Suzhou Industry Park (SIP), OSCAR offers many strategic benefits to Oxford's research mission through access to state-of-the-art facilities, a research environment enriched by numerous universities and Chinese Academy Institutes, and a substantial company base including more than 90 Fortune 500 companies as well as many hundreds of SMEs. OSCAR will benefit Oxford via: 1. Proximity to industry and Chinese science and technology institutes. 2. OSCAR offers an opportunity to pursue research in a setting where scientific possibilities or potential routes to application are not available in the UK. For example, work on plastic electronics will benefit from proximity to major display screen manufacturers in the Far East (a sector with only one UK company); 3. Closer working with industry will lead to faster adaption of new research into commercially available technologies, accelerating the impact of our research; Researchers will be in a position to collaborate more closely with their Chinese partners, growing Oxford's relationship with universities, research institutes and high-tech enterprises in China. 4. SIP also offers access to state-of-the-art facilities (e.g. in the adjacent Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics) Access to talented researchers OSCAR provides a vehicle for talented state-funded Chinese national postgraduate research students to return to China whilst continuing their research in collaboration with Oxford-based labs, retaining the skills they developed during their doctoral study; A well-resourced Centre in China will strengthen our position to attract the top-quality students and postdoctoral researchers to work on Oxford-led research projects. OSCAR also offers a window in South East Asia through which Oxford can better showcase its true nature, addressing the perception that many have of Oxford producing politicians and not scientists - OSCAR will demonstrate Oxford's world-leading position in scientific research and innovation. In the longer term, OSCAR will seek to support academics in medical sciences, the humanities, and social sciences in advancing research programmes in China. |
| Impact | A high quality research lab has been established in OSCAR. Collaborations with local industry are on going. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Partnership with Tsinghua University |
| Organisation | Tsinghua University China |
| Department | School of Enviroment |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCR) and Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou), Tsinghua University (RIET) have formally signed a MOU. OSCAR is the first oversea institute of Oxford University and I am involved in OSCAR as a PI, working on synthetic biology application to environment biotechnology. |
| Collaborator Contribution | RIET is a secondary institute affiliated to Tsinghua University. It is mainly engaged in environmental science and innovation activities, with its overall objective to build a comprehensive research & development and science & technology service institute with international influences, which is to help Tsinghua University's development strategy of "building a world-class discipline of environment", driven by the institutional innovation, based on the major scientific and technological research and development, and oriented with the grounding of industrialisation of research results. My team in OSCAR developed a series of biosensors. RIET provides research facility, scientists and industrial partners working on biosensor application to environment. RIET is also working with OSCAR for joint project, exploiting research funding in China. |
| Impact | We have jointly standardalised two biosensors for toxicity detection as Ocean standards in China. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Title | BIOFILM TRANSFORMATION |
| Description | The invention relates to a method for the transformation of host cells of a biofilm with heterologous nucleic acid, wherein the host cells are within the extracellular matrix of the biofilm, the method comprising: adding the heterologous nucleic acid to the biofilm; and applying inertial cavitation to the biofilm in the presence of the heterologous nucleic acid to facilitate transformation of host cells within the biofilm with the heterologous nucleic acid. The invention further relates to associated methods, uses and kits for transformation of host cells of a biofilm. |
| IP Reference | US2022307005 |
| Protection | Patent / Patent application |
| Year Protection Granted | 2022 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | The technology has attracted industrial interest. |
| Title | Engineering of a Photoautotrophic Cell for CO2 Fixation |
| Description | Microbial rhodopsins are a major photosystem on earth harvesting sunlight to power cells. We constructed a rhodopsin-based photoelectro-synthetic pathway in bacteria to drive CO2 fixation using sunlight as the sole energy source. We demonstrate that this approach can convert a chemoautotrophic bacterium Ralstonia eutropha H16 into photoautotrophic microorganism. In the new photosynthesis design, we used anode to replace photosystem II and Gloeobacter rhodopsin (GR) to replace photosystem I, and built a hybrid photoelectrosynthetic system. Water is split into O2, and electrons which is used to CO2 fixation. The light-activated GR coupled with canthaxanthin can power NADH/NADPH synthesis with a Faradaic efficiency of ~38%. This artificial photosynthetic system creates a novel way to fix CO2 using sunlight. |
| IP Reference | UK Patent Application No: 2213802.8, dated 21 September 2022 |
| Protection | Patent / Patent application |
| Year Protection Granted | 2022 |
| Licensed | No |
| Impact | The new CO2 fixation technology will contribute to the global CO2 control and net zero efforts. It has attracted interest from capital ventures such as Oxford Science Enterprise. |
| Title | Modified Cell |
| Description | The invention relates to a method of producing a chromosome-free bacterial cell, 5 comprising: i) degrading native chromosomal DNA in a bacterial cell by expressing an endonuclease in the bacterial cell that is capable of recognition and double stranded cutting of the native chromosomal DNA, wherein the expression of the endonuclease is under control of an inducible or repressible promoter; and ii) transforming the bacterial cell with recombinant nucleic acid encoding enzymes of one or more 10 biochemical energy pathways, or parts thereof, which provide the chromosome-free bacterial cell with energy. The invention further relates to associated compositions, chromosome-free bacterial cells and treatments. |
| IP Reference | Modified cell WO2021/079145 filed by Oxford University on 25/10/2019 |
| Protection | Patent / Patent application |
| Year Protection Granted | 2019 |
| Licensed | Yes |
| Impact | This is the first report to develop SimCells (simple cells) as novel chasses for synthetic biology. SimCells were developed in this work which inherited machinery from living cells and contained designed gene circuit for biosensing function. It demonstrated that SimCells can be potentially regarded as 'artificial cellular machine' with various functions. SimCells as programmable chasses open a new frontier for synthetic biology and its broad application without GMO (genetically modified origanisms) issues. It inspired a few companies around world including China, US and Switzerland. For example, after reading this paper, Flagship Pioneering (FP) Ltd in the US has contacted. Associate Director of FP Dr Hok Hei Tam and his colleague have visited me and Oxford University Innovation (OUI). A consultancy agreement and know-how transfer has been signed by OUI. FP has set up a company- FL62, and invested (>$1M) a project based on this SimCell technology. |
| Company Name | Oxford Molecular Biosensors |
| Description | OMB is offering a range of products and services, including several biosensors with differing functionalities, greater robustness and sensitivities than those currently on market. The company has also developed a platform technology which enables rapid design and construction of bespoke biosensors tailored to the specific needs of the customer. A further development is a portable device which will enable biosensor assessment to be made on site and in remote locations. License agreements to employ our biosensors, training courses for their application and data analysis as well as consultation on best measures for remediation of contamination are also available. |
| Year Established | 2017 |
| Impact | Provide service to Primark, Bangladesh government water project. |
| Website | https://www.omb.co.uk/ |
| Company Name | Oxford SimCell Ltd |
| Description | Oxford SimCell Ltd has been established as a spin-off company of Oxford University. |
| Year Established | 2020 |
| Impact | Oxford SimCell Ltd has already attracted £2M investment. |
| Website | https://oxfordsimcell.com/ |
| Description | Research Expo St Edmund Hall 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The second St Edmund Hall Research Expo will take place on Saturday 25 February 2017 (6th Week), 12:30-5:00pm. Once again, the College will showcase the wide diversity of research being undertaken by its students and academics - from undergraduates to Fellows - via sessions of short 'Teddy Talks' (all aimed at a non-specialist audience) and three rooms of interactive displays and exhibits. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.seh.ox.ac.uk/expo |
| Description | Talk at Gordon Conference (GRC): Renewable Energy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited to give a presentation about SimCells developed in Oxford, funded by this EPSRC grant. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=13576 |