Synthetic Biology Tools for Yeast
Yeast is an amazing model eukaryote organism and industrial workhorse. We use it to make reliable biosensors for enabling better biological processes, such as to accelerate the development of powerful cell factories for a sustainable future.
What we try to achieve
We are committed to make enabling synthetic biology tools for yeast with emphasis on Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We particularly engage in biosensor development based on G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) signalling, which is the largest class of receptors in the human genome and is widespread amongst eukaryotes. Consequently, GPCR-based yeast biosensors entail biosensing of a tremendous chemical space, including secreted products resulting from cell factories. One of our main objectives is currently to create and utilize modular screening systems and strain engineering tools for Saccharomyces cerevisiae to accelerate cell factory development.
Why our research is important and how it can be used
Our research is considerably oriented towards application. Beyond yeast cell factories, we currently implement our tools to decipher and even control cell-cell communication as well as for conducting rapid and cost-efficient screening of chemical libraries. We find our yeast biosensors to be highly relevant in various areas of research, such as within the marine space, in crop management, or as a platform to study insect olfaction.
How we achieve our aims – methods, tools, technologies
We use various techniques and equipment, including flow cytometry, microfluidics, molecular biology, “omics” approaches, directed evolution, and Cas9-assisted strain engineering to facilitate our workflows. Sometimes traditional techniques or equipment turn out to be insufficient e.g., in terms of throughput, and so we create new synthetic biology tools for yeast to overcome the barriers.
Contact
Emil Damgaard Jensen Tenure Track Researcher & Group Leder emdaje@biosustain.dtu.dk