Building multi-cellular biological machines

Summary

A national Science and Technology center with collaborators from MIT, Georgia Tech and Univ of Illinois studing the multicelluar interation of cells. This is an interdisciplinary biology, engineering, ethics and mathematical project that is training the next generation of scientist while developing new bio machine technologies to help society.

Situation

Biological machines can be used to detect the harmful toxins in our environment and to develop new therapies with better accuracy than today's technology. The American Heart Institute estimates that 128 million Americans could be helped today with advances in stem cell therapies. In the US 1.5 million people suffer from Parkinson's disease and there is no long-term treatment for this fatal disease. Embryonic stem cell based therapies hold great promise for directly curing or being used to discover new drugs for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, spinal cord injury, ALS, SMA and other devastating diseases.

Response

We applied for and receive a National Science Foundation Science and Technology (STC) grant to support a joint mission with MIT, Georgia Tech and the University of Illinois. Our mission is to create a new scientific discipline for building living, multi-cellular machines that solve real world problems in health, security, and the environment. This mission will be achieved through integrated research and education efforts, human resource development, diversity and outreach programs, and knowledge transfer activities. The Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS) Strategic Plan details our approach for addressing the ambitious and transformative goals of the NSF funded STC. EBICS will address the grand challenge of engineering multi-cellular biological machines that have desired functionalities and can perform prescribed tasks. These machines consist of sensing, information processing, actuation, protein expression, and transport elements that can be effectively combined to create functional units. The scientific goals of EBICS are to establish a fundamental understanding of cell-cell and cell-environment interactions and their control by biochemical and mechanical cues; assemble and characterize the properties and performance of multi-cellular machines, thereby creating the nascent discipline for building living, multi-cellular machines for a wide range of applications

Impact

In 2016 we finalized work on building a model for motor neuron development and started to add a vascular component. We are building the next generation of toxin detection and is a continuation of the previous years to develop more representative and robust sensors through biological machines for a broad range of chemical threats. This funding in part has led to additional funded grants on toxicology with faculty in College of Public Health at UGA to develop better ways to find toxins that might cause ADHD and Autism.

State Issue

S.E.T. - Science, Engineering, and Technology

Details

• Year: 2016
• Geographic Scope: International
• County: Clarke
• Program Areas:
  • Agriculture & Natural Resources