Project description
Learning from the best: viral predators teach us about genetic control
News that a virus is on the loose that could infect our cells, hijack their cellular machinery forcing them to produce viral products rather than their own, and eventually burst out of our cells killing them and going on their merry way would be terrifying. This is exactly what bacteriophages do, fortunately to bacterial cells and not to ours. Their ability to command and control their hosts' gene expression has evolved over billions of years, and the EU-funded BIONICbacteria project is planning to harness this accumulated phage expertise for a synthetic biology toolbox. The team will target designer bacteria for biotech fermentation and vaccine design.
Objective
As nature’s first bioengineers, bacteriophages have evolved to modify, adapt and control their bacterial hosts through billions of years of interactions. Indeed, like modern synthetic biologists aspire to do, bacteriophages already evade bacterial silencing of their xenogeneic DNA, subvert host gene expression, and co-opt both the central and peripheral metabolisms of their hosts. Studying these key insights from a molecular systems biology perspective, inspired us to develop these evolutionary fully-adapted phage mechanisms as a next-level layer of synthetic biology tools. Thus, BIONICbacteria will provide conceptual novel synthetic biology tools that allow direct manipulation of specific protein activity, post-translational modifications, RNA stability, and metabolite concentrations.
The goal of BIONICbacteria is to pioneer an unconventional way to perform synthetic biology, tapping an unlimited source of novel phage tools genetic circuits and phage modulators. To achieve these goals, we will apply and develop state-of-the-art technologies in molecular microbiology and focus on three principal aims:
(1) To exploit new phage-encoded genetic circuits as synthetic biology parts and as intricate biotechnological chassis.
(2) To build synthetic phage modulators (SPMs) as novel payloads to directly impact the bacterial metabolism in a targeted manner.
(3) To create designer bacteria by integrating SPMs-containing circuits into bacterial strains as proof-of-concepts for applications in industrial fermentations and vaccine design.
This proposed “plug-in” approach of evolutionary-adapted synthetic modules, will allow us to domesticate Pseudomonas strains in radically new ways. By building proofs-of-concept for applications in industrial fermentations and vaccine development, we address key problem in these areas with potentially high-gain solutions for society and industry.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences synthetic biology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology bioprocessing technologies fermentation
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2018-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3000 LEUVEN
Belgium
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.