Principal Investigator Domitilla Del Vecchio
One fundamental question when inserting a synthetic circuit in the cellular chassis is how it is going to alter the cellular environment and, with it, other synthetic circuits that are already present in the cell. In fact, all circuits, for their functioning, employ shared cellular resources such as RNA polymerases and ribosomes, and hence there is competition for shared resources. On the one hand, this may hinder cell growth, on the other hand, this may create unwanted crosstalk among “unconnected” circuit components. We perform mathematical studies and simple experiments in E coli to characterize this problem. At the same time, we investigate designs for adaptation to changing demands by employing control-theoretic tools, such as integral feedback and the internal model principle.