User:Jason R. Kelly
Bio
Jason Kelly
2nd Year Biological Engineering Graduate Student @ MIT
S.B. in Biology and Chemical Engineering @ MIT, 2003
Activities
BE undergrad curriculum representative
Thesis Project
To date, engineered biological systems have been constructed via a variety of ad hoc approaches. The resulting systems should be thought of as pieces of art. Here, I propose to explore how existing forward engineering approaches might be combined with evolution to make routine the construction of engineered biological systems. I will specify a procedure for construction of biological systems via screening of subcomponent libraries and rational re-assembly. I will develop tools to enable this approach including a high-throughput screening system to measure the input/output function of an arbitrary genetic device. I will apply this approach to construct a collection of ring oscillators and bi-stable switches. Furthermore, I anticipate that performance of these devices will decay over time due to spontaneous errors in replication of the genetic information encoding the systems. As an engineer, I would like to be able to design systems with behavior that is predictable in the face of mutation and selection. I will explore mechanisms for increasing or decreasing the susceptibility of engineered biological systems to loss of function as a result of mutation.
Specific Aims
OWW Pages in Progess
BioBricks construction tutorial - a step-by-step tutorial for a single Biobrick assembly.
Microfluidics - a page describing the endy lab microfluidics setup and linking to relevant protocols, etc.
BE Board - homepage for the BE Board
OWW Presentation - a presentation for introducing new labs to Openwetware.
ICampus Application for OWW - application for an MIT iCampus grant for OpenWetWare (and a good desciption of the site and future goals)
Science 2.0 - some musings by the OWW community about the internet (Web 2.0) and science
Papers of Interest
Library-based Construction
Evolutionary Stability
Inhibition of Mutation and Combating of the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance (Cirz et al)
Contact
jasonk AT mit DOT edu