Engineering Synthetic Cells through Module Integration and Evolution

Life, the most complex and admirable machine that one could think of has evolved over billions of years to display a beautiful variety of mechanisms that keep cells adapting, self-maintaining, reproducing, and evolving. If we think about it, what is this magic? What are the mechanisms behind life’s origins and wonderful coordination? Attracted...

Visualizing response to DNA damage in bacteria

The basis of this thesis has been the curiosity, however modest, to understand how DNA replication happens in vivo, particularly during the onset of DNA damage and beyond. DNA damage is a recurring phenomenon, which a (bacterial) cell faces in its lifetime from the environment or even its inherent metabolism. While we understand much about...

Virus-inspired dna replication coupled with gene expression in a minimal cell framework