TU Munich — Chair of Physics of Synthetic Biological Systems
The Chair of Physics of Synthetic Biosystems is dedicated to various aspects of biological and biomolecular self-assembly and their use in nanotechnology and synthetic biology. The long-term vision is to produce artificial biomolecular or cellular systems that can move, reconfigure, evolve, process information or interact with their environment.
In the field of DNA nanotechnology, we are engaged in the fabrication of artificial supramolecular structures using the DNA origami technique and the development of molecular machines. We are also working on the development of nanorobotic systems with potential applications in biosensing.
The group has expertise in cell-free synthetic biology, especially the realization of cell-free genetic control circuits. A particular focus is the compartmentalization of these systems in emulsion droplets, lipid and peptide vesicles, or on the surface of lithographically patterned biochips — with the aim of producing artificial cell-like systems.
In synthetic biology, we are working on programming bacterial behavior using RNA-based gene regulation, in particular riboswitches or the CRISPR technique. This enables bacteria to interact with their environment in novel ways, to process information or even to communicate with each other.