Engineering Biology
Environmental Biotechnology Challenge:

Controlled deployment of engineered organisms to improve ecosystem biodiversity, robustness, and the well-being of inhabitants.

Improved engineering of select plants and animals for safe, effective, environmental deployment.

Engineering Biology Objectives & Technical Achievements

Design and produce animals with effective gene drives to produce sterile animals to control invasive species populations.1Jones, H. P., Holmes, N. D., Butchart, S. H. M., Tershy, B. R., Kappes, P. J., Corkery, I., … Croll, D. A. (2016). Invasive mammal eradication on islands results in substantial conservation gains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(15), 4033–4038. View publication.
Grunwald, H. A., Gantz, V. M., Poplawski, G., Xu, X.-R. S., Bier, E., & Cooper, K. L. (2019). Super-Mendelian inheritance mediated by CRISPR-Cas9 in the female mouse germline. Nature, 566(7742), 105–109. View publication.

Engineering DNA Biomolecular Engineering Host Engineering Data Science

Gene engineering capabilities for producing targeted sterility regardless of species.

Improved ability to target reproductive capabilities without off-target effects and ride-along mutations.

Ability to introduce genetically-encoded “kill switches” such as auxotrophies dependent on localized, environmentally-available compounds.

Better predictive long-term environmental and population models incorporating climate change data and engineered organism behavior/spread.

Design and produce bio-containable engineered plant species.2National Research Council (US) Committee on Scientific Evaluation of the Introduction of Genetically Modified Microorganisms and Plants into the Environment. (1989). Field testing genetically modified organisms: framework for decisions. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US). View publication.

Engineering DNA Biomolecular Engineering Host Engineering Data Science

Develop and expand transformation tools and sequence databases to support editing in plants of interest.

Further develop and enhance cytoplasmic male sterility in select species.

Enable biocontainment through mitochondrial and chloroplast engineering.

Develop Agrobacterium strain(s) capable of transforming new plants of interest at workable efficiency.

Better predictive long-term environmental and population models incorporating climate change data and engineered organism behavior/spread.

Use extant species homologues and genetic information for archiving and to achieve de-extinction for select, recently extinct (i.e., extinct for fewer than 150 years) species that have viable, available habitats.

Engineering DNA Biomolecular Engineering Host Engineering Data Science

Ability to effectively use CRISPR systems to combine varying amounts of genetic material from two species at the germline level.

Ability to grow germ cells for multiple species in vitro for easy gene editing.

Isolation and/or sequencing of genomic DNA from old, poorly preserved samples.

Develop CRISPR cassette delivery system to be able to effectively and efficiently edit embryos.

Develop viable hosts capable of successful breeding/pollinating, with life spans similar to original species.

Better predictive long-term environmental and population models incorporating climate change data and engineered organism behavior/spread.

Footnotes

  1. Jones, H. P., Holmes, N. D., Butchart, S. H. M., Tershy, B. R., Kappes, P. J., Corkery, I., … Croll, D. A. (2016). Invasive mammal eradication on islands results in substantial conservation gains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(15), 4033–4038. View publication.; Grunwald, H. A., Gantz, V. M., Poplawski, G., Xu, X.-R. S., Bier, E., & Cooper, K. L. (2019). Super-Mendelian inheritance mediated by CRISPR-Cas9 in the female mouse germline. Nature, 566(7742), 105–109. View publication.
  2. National Research Council (US) Committee on Scientific Evaluation of the Introduction of Genetically Modified Microorganisms and Plants into the Environment. (1989). Field testing genetically modified organisms: framework for decisions.Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US). View publication.
Last updated: June 19, 2019 Back