Discussion

Much work in synthetic biology, especially that connected with biosynthesis and biosensing, is conducted using unicellular microorganisms. There is, however, growing interest in applying synthetic biological techniques to challenges in surgery and in tissue engineering. To help lay foundations for this, we have been engineering genetic modules in naive mammalian cells that cause them to perform de novo pattern formation, and (separately) to undergo a set of morphogenetic events. We are currently working on connecting patterning to morphogenesis to create synthetic self-organizing multicellular structures.