Lecture
NVBMB Speaker of the Year 2018: Engineering genomes, karyotypes, and the dark matter of the human genome
- Date
- Thursday 11 October 2018
- Time
- Location
-
Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden - Room
- C1
Abstract
Rapid advances in DNA synthesis have made it possible to engineer whole genomes, which is the basis of our global synthetic yeast genome project, Sc2.0. The synthetic genome features several systemic modifications including an inducible evolution system to generate millions of derived variant genomes. We recently completely engineered the yeast karyotype, showing a massively altered 3D genome structure and surprisingly high fitness. We are now also able to assemble designer human genomic regions and precision deliver these to stem and cancer cells. We intend to use these methods to dissect genomic “dark matter” and endow human cells with new capabilities.