SynBio Forum: Practical Technologies - Novel Sensors

Exploring technologies at the interface of biology, engineering, academia and industry, this series will provide practical advice on how to make the most of the latest biological technologies, and how research can be applied in commercial and non-profit environments.

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Dr Jim Rowe
Sainsbury Laboratory
University of Cambridge

My research interests lie in environmental regulation of plant development. I am fascinated by the diverse range morphological decisions that plants can make and the profound effects on survivability and yields that developmental plasticity brings. As phytohormones integrate environmental signals with development, in a cell and tissue specific manner, to coordinate these decisions, understanding their localisation and dynamics is essential to understanding development.

In his talk, Dr. Rowe will discuss the differences between biosensors and transcriptional/degron reporters, the benefits of direct biosensors, how biosensors can improve model construction and predictive power and tips for getting started with biosensor imaging and image analysis.

Prof. Dorus Gadella
Leeuwenhoek Centre for Advanced Microscopy (LCAM)
University of Amsterdam
"Third generation fluorescent proteins (FPs), FP-based sensors and optogenetics for visualising and manipulating subcellular dynamics"

Dorus Gadella studied (Bio)chemistry and obtained his PhD in biochemistry at the University of Utrecht in 1991. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen (1991-1994) and at Wageningen University (1994-1996) he became assistant professor in 1999 at Wageningen University at the department of Molecular Biology. He received the Unilever Research Prize in 1987 on his work on observing enzyme kinetics using fluorescence spectroscopy techniques and in 1997 he received the FEBS anniversary prize in recognition of pioneering work on application of Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy for studying cell signaling phenomena. In 2001, he was appointed as full professor of Molecular Cytology within the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). At the UvA he founded the Centre for Advanced Microscopy in 2004, and in 2009 he co-founded the van Leeuwenhoek Centre for Advanced Microscopy (LCAM). In 2011 he was co-founder of the Dutch roadmap for advanced microscopy NL-BioImaging AM. LCAM currently is ratified as flagship functional imaging node in the Euro-BioImaging ESFRI large scale research infrastructure. During his professorship at the UvA, The Molecular Cytology lab developed several spectrally distinct fluorescent proteins with record brightness (mTurquoise2, SGFP2, SYFP2, mScarlet) and (utilizing these) many sensors were made for observing cellular signaling phenomena with functional imaging. Currently the lab focuses on GPCR to small GTPase signaling for driving cellular migration.

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Workshops will be held monthly online, Tuesday 3-4:30pm.

29th Jun: Open Tools for Bioproduction:
https://www.meetup.com/Cambridge-Synthetic-Biology-Meetup/events/hvjpksyccjbmc/
27th Jul: Low-Cost Microscopes:
https://www.meetup.com/Cambridge-Synthetic-Biology-Meetup/events/xvjpksycckbkc/
31st Aug: Open Technology Frameworks:
https://www.meetup.com/Cambridge-Synthetic-Biology-Meetup/events/qwjpksycclbpc/
28th Sep: Accessible Automation:
https://www.meetup.com/Cambridge-Synthetic-Biology-Meetup/events/qwjpksyccmblc/
26th Oct: Soft Robotics:
https://www.meetup.com/Cambridge-Synthetic-Biology-Meetup/events/qwjpksyccnbjc/
30th Nov: Novel Sensors:
https://www.meetup.com/Cambridge-Synthetic-Biology-Meetup/events/qwjpksyccpbnc/
14th Dec: Next-Generation Scanning Microscopes:
https://www.meetup.com/Cambridge-Synthetic-Biology-Meetup/events/qwjpksyccqblc/

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Contact: coordinator@synbio.cam.ac.uk.