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DE-FG02-02ER63445: MICROBIAL ECOLOGY, PROTEOGENOMICS AND COMPUTATIONAL OPTIMA

Award Status: Active
  • Institution: President and Fellows of Harvard College (Harvard Medical School), Boston, MA
  • UEI: JDLVAVGYJQ21
  • DUNS: 047006379
  • Most Recent Award Date: 11/19/2024
  • Number of Support Periods: 23
  • PM: Rabinowicz, Pablo
  • Current Budget Period: 12/01/2024 - 11/30/2025
  • Current Project Period: 12/01/2021 - 11/30/2026
  • PI: Church, George
  • Supplement Budget Period: N/A
 

Public Abstract

Breakthrough scientific discoveries and major technological developments in genome editing and engineering during the past decade have been central for the advancement of the burgeoning U.S. bioeconomy. This project has been at the forefront of those biotechnological advances, having contributed new methods to rapidly test billions of genomic changes to identify desired genetic and biochemical pathways, as well as revolutionary approaches to engineer proteins containing artificial building blocks that equip them with new functionalities not found in nature. This award will now complete the construction of a strain of the model bacterium Escherichia coli with a fully redesigned (recoded) genome that will enable safe and efficient approaches for engineering strains and pathways with diverse applications, including synthesizing biofuels and industrial chemicals from biomass or polymer waste, capturing carbon dioxide, and developing additional tools to enable further scientific discoveries. The project will also develop E. coli strains capable of synthetizing redesigned proteins using a parallel (orthogonal) protein syntheses machinery without affecting the normal physiology of the cell. Strategies to generalize those approaches will be designed to implement genome recoding and orthogonal biosynthetic capacity in other bacteria that are relevant for DOE due to their industrial or environmental importance. This project will also deliver artificial intelligence-based methods for engineering a new generation of highly sensitive biosensors that can be used for basic or applied research as well as techniques for genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analysis of microbial communities directly within their environment. The breadth and transformative potential of the technologies and capabilities stemming from this project will not only result in new tools useful for the research community but will also address BER’s mission by providing new knowledge on the molecular genetics of fundamental microbiological processes. 


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