Research Areas

Flagship Research Programs

At SynCTI, we have 3 major flagship research programs namely Cells by Design, Industrial Biosolutions and Microbiome Based Solutions, where our devoted researchers are developing engineered biological systems for a solution-driven approach in key areas such as healthcare, energy and environment. This is powered by our top-notch state of the art NUS BioFoundry that aids in accelerating our research to mould biosystems to our advantage.

Cells by Design

Biosensor & Computational Modelling

Innovative biosensors using next-generation technologies with high sensitivity to detect toxic compounds, metals and biomolecules will be highly impactful, particularly in the food and healthcare industries. At SynCTI, our research is directed towards non-invasive “contactless” biosensors leveraging optogenetics and thermogenetics for light- and temperature-controllable gene expression, respectively. These sensors offer high penetration depth which could empower in vivo microbial therapeutic applications.

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Genome Engineering

Genome engineering is the process of making precise modifications to the DNA of an organism. Using advanced molecular tools we can insert, delete, or alter specific genes to study gene function. This technology has broad applications in medicine and biotechnology, allowing scientists to correct genetic disorders and create custom-designed organisms with new or improved functions.

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Proprietary Microbial Strains

Microbial strain development is a process of collecting and repurposing of microbial samples. Firstly, we intend to isolate, identify and characterize novel microbial proprietary strains from various resources that are devoid of IP restrictions. Secondly, we are working towards the development of novel synthetic biology toolkits in the proprietary strains and further use them as workhorses for industrial practices. Such novel repurposed strains can be used for the production of industry-relevant compounds (e.g. high-value chemicals, nutraceuticals, enzymes, proteins, etc.).

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Industrial Biosolution

Enzyme Engineering & Biocatalysis

Enzymes have revolutionized bioprocesses and aided industrial production, and thus are highly sought-after commodities in both academia and pharmaceutical industry. Being biodegradable in nature, they fulfil the central tenets of sustainable development and green chemistry. Our research at SynCTI involves employing high-end technologies to explore and characterize native enzymes, improve their activities, and create novel functionalities. Some of the established platforms that we use for enzyme engineering include…

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Bioremediation & Biotransformation

Inspired by nature, biotransformation offers the opportunity to create value-added products from the renewable feedstock or target chemicals by employing enzymes or biocatalysts which are isolated from natural products. Several groups in SynCTI are collaborating to create engineered microbial hosts and enzymes to develop novel biotransformation processes. While some groups are focused on generating certain enantiopure chemicals that are key intermediates in several pharmaceutical processes other groups are focused on projects involving bioremediation.

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Biologics

Biologics are a broad range of complex biomolecules that are produced in a living system such as a microorganism, plant or mammalian cells, often through recombinant DNA technology. The most common examples of biologics include monoclonal antibodies, Insulin and Botox, which are used to prevent, treat, and cure rare diseases. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the most widely used mammalian cell lines for therapeutic recombinant protein production. However, the tedious processes and suboptimal productivity limit the wide application of CHO-mediated bioproduction.

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Red Cells Engineering

Focuses on both basic and applied sciences of red blood cell (RBC) biology. Our first aim is to investigate RBC development, which may have profound implications for treatments of anemia. Indeed, one third of the world’s population suffers from anemia with enormous health and economic consequences. Despite available pharmaceuticals, RBC transfusion is still the only way to treat severe anemic patients caused by chronic cancer, infectious diseases and genetic disorders. The increased blood demands stress the public supplies. Therefore, the lab’s goal is to determine the regulatory mechanism governing RBC development as a prerequisite to develop anti-anemia therapies.

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Productive Cyanobacteria

There is an increasing interest in using this phototrophic microbe for bioproduction, but several issues have to be overcome. We address these obstacles with genome engineering guided by combinations of screening and rational design. The work includes genome manipulation by CRISPR and recombineering.

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Microbiome-based Solutions

Targeted Microbiome Intervention

Gut Microbiome was an intensely researched topic for the last decade where the presence or absence of certain microbial communities has been implicated in a variety of human health conditions including metabolic, gastrointestinal, cancer, infectious disease, and central nervous system disorders. Extensive research in this field has been possible to a large extent due to rapid development in high-throughput genomic analysis of microbial communities leading to a mechanistic understanding of the microbiome’s involvement in human health.

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Microbial Ecosystems

Our planet is made up of complex biomass mainly consisting of microbes. The microbes in these systems not only interact with themselves but also with other life forms ranging from plants to animals including humans. Due to the advancement in integrative multi-omics approaches, it is now possible to evaluate their behaviour in complex microbial communities when exposed to certain key ecosystem drivers on their microbial colonization, functioning and response to different stressor.

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Therapeutic phage

Reprogramming bacteriophage to infect new hosts has many interesting academic and technological applications. This research involves comprehensive genome engineering and of multiple different bacteriophage as well as directed evolution through modified phage displays.

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