Synthetic biology is a new discipline at the interface between biology and engineering which aims at designing, constructing or re-design biological parts, devices and systems. Synthetic Biology is an approach to forward biological engineering using the key concepts of modularity, insulation (orthogonality), standardization and scalability to design synthetic parts (devices and systems) to be implemented in non natural setting. Synthetic biology will certainly have an impact on basic knowledge as the implementation of existing genes, proteins and metabolic pathways in non-native settings will help to shed light on their function and dynamic behaviour. Within this framework synthetic biology will fill the gap between description and understanding of biological systems, clarifying fundamental principles of biological organization. On the other hand, synthetic biology will revolutionize technology and production paradigms in the twenty-first century and foster the development of new technological tools to produce innovative medicines (red biotechnology), generate new sources of energy and chemical processes (white biotechnology) and develop novel application in the environment-agrofood sector (green biotechnology). At ECLT we pursue the design, synthesis and standardization of completely /de novo/ parts and devices to be exploited as novel functional scaffolds for synthetic biology. As a prerogative, our interdisciplinary approach integrates molecular biology, complex system science and advanced statistical methodologies to harness the full potential of synthetic biology.

In addition, we exploit synthetic biology tools to dissect the interactome of biological networks relevant for human health. Interactomics is a discipline at the intersection of bioinformatics and biology that deals with studying the interactions among different biomolecules (e.g. Proteins and low-weight molecular compounds) within a cell. Interactomics is an example of "top-down" systems biology, which takes an overhead view of a biosystem with the ultimate goal to compare networks of interactions between and within species in order to find to understand molecular network topology, evolution and robustness. Through the study of the interactome we will gain a deeper understanding of biosystem function, structure and evolution. At ECLT we tackle cancer interactomic exploiting an interdisciplinary approach that integrates molecular biology, high-throughput screening, complex system science and advanced statistical methodologies.

Finally, we also exploit synthetic (i.e. constructive) approach to investigate the emergence and evolution of functional proteins, ribozymes and collectively autocatalytic networks as a contribution to the debate on the origin of life.

Current Projects:

DICE - "Designing Informative Combinatorial Experiments" for living technology.
The project aims to design evolutionary combinatorial experiments in the high dimensional and high throughput setting that characterizes the search of new biological entities, such as new synthetic proteins.

PROTUMA - "Novel Protein Markers for Tumor diagnosis, prognosis and therapy"
This EU-funded project aims at characterizing and validating novel tumor markers for the diagnosis and treatment of aggressive tumours. Within the project, ECLT will attempt to unveil the complex network of interaction that involves candidate biomarkers applying cutting-edge technologies from the system biology fields such as high-content screening, evolutionary mathematical and statistical modeling of cellular pathways and advanced data mining techniques.