Scientists lay the groundwork for the development of reprogrammable biological circuits

Biological systems can be redesigned and genetically modified to implement new functions or acquire new abilities. For instance, a group of cells can be programmed to detect a signal (such as a hormone) and produce a specific response (such as an enzyme). However, so far, these biological devices could only perform the function for which they were originally designed.

Researchers from IRB Barcelona´s Cell Signalling laboratory, headed by Drs. Francesc Posas and Eulàlia de Nadal, have developed and validated a general cellular architecture that serves as a basis for the generation of reprogrammable biological systems. Using a single set of cells and external reprogramming molecules, the scientists have managed to run different circuits from a unique biological device. The diverse functionalities were switched on without the need for any genetic engineering or the generation of new cells.

Reprogrammable systems could be used in a wide variety of fields. “In biomedicine, a growing number of therapeutic applications rely on the use of cellular devices implanted in the patient. The possibility of having cell implants that can be reprogrammed externally to accommodate the varying needs of each patient offers incredible opportunities,” explains Dr. Posas.

Biological computation

Biological computation is a growing scientific field that aims to use living cells, and derived molecules to perform computations—meaning to process and respond to data.

“Biological reprogramming is a tool that allows biological computation to be scalable, reusable and easy to implement and it overcomes all current limitations concerning circuit complexity,” explains Dr. David Canadell, postdoctoral researcher at IRB Barcelona.

This work was done in collaboration with the Synthetic Biology for Biomedical Applications Group led by Dr. Javier Macía in the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

This project has received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Government of Catalonia, the Fundació La Marató de TV3, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and AFOSR.

Implementing re-configurable biological computation with distributed multicellular consortia
David Canadell, Nicolás Ortiz-Vaquerizas, Sira Mogas-Diez, Eulàlia de Nadal, Javier Macia & Francesc Posas
Nucleic Acids Research (2022) DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac1120

About IRB Barcelona

Created in 2005 by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) and University of Barcelona, IRB Barcelona is a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, a seal that was awarded in 2011. The institute is devoted to conducting research of excellence in biomedicine and to transferring results to clinical practice, thus improving people’s quality of life, while simultaneously promoting the training of outstanding researchers, technology transfer, and public communication of science. Its 27 laboratories and eight core facilities address basic questions in biology and are orientated to diseases such as cancer, metastasis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and rare conditions. IRB Barcelona is an international centre that hosts 400 employees and more than 30 nationalities. It is located in the Barcelona Science Park. IRB Barcelona is a CERCA center, and a member of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST).