This NSF CAREER award by the Biotechnology, Biochemical and Biomass Engineering program supports the development of a novel containment strategy for engineered organisms based on synthetic auxotrophy. Synthetic auxotrophs provide a strategy for mitigating the risks of accidental environmental release of novel organisms developed using the tools of synthetic biology. The synthetic auxotrophs developed in this study will be engineered such that their viability is dependent upon a chemical not found in nature. Therefore these organisms cannot survive outside the contained environments to which the synthetic compound has been added. The process for generating these synthetic auxotrophs involves a novel protein engineering strategy. It takes a protein critical to the growth of the organism encoded by an essential gene and rewires its interactions with the cell such that it can only grows in the presence of the synthetic compound. Along with the development of containment strategies, the PI will develop an interactive website that provides context and navigation through the diverse training resources available on the internet. Based around the idea of a Trail, or a series of related electronic content, the site will guide students through tutorials, quizzes, and multimedia content towards mastery of specific subject areas. These subjects include the technical implementation of synthetic biology, as well as design theory, basic science, and issues of human practice. Together these efforts address key unresolved issues of biosafety and training in this field.
