Creating synthetic regulatory modules to drive cell and tissue specific expression

One of the most challenging technical problems for molecular biology is driving gene expression in a highly specific manner so that it is only expressed specific in cells or tissues. Although some systems exist for driving gene expression in broad tissue types, it can be very difficult to drive expression in rare or highly specific target cells. In this project, we will use molecular biology and machine learning approaches to identify the rules of tissue specific gene expression so that we can design synthetic regulatory elements that can drive expression in any cell type of interest.
UKRI-BBSRC priority areas: Understanding the rules of life, applying machine learning and synthetic biology.