Today, talk by Roy Bar-Ziv (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) at 11 am in Amphi Holweck.

Synthetic gene expression systems on a chip
Roy Bar-Ziv
Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

We present a biochip approach for the assembly of synthetic multi-component biochemical systems.
A light-directed technique has been developed for the immobilization of entire genes, encoded on
long DNA polymers. The DNA can be packed to form spatially varying, highly dense polymer brushes,
in which the local DNA concentration is comparable to that in a bacterium. Carrying out
directional transcription in these DNA brushes reveals interesting features not present
in dilute bulk solution reactions, such as effect of DNA density and gene orientation on
transcription. These observations lead us to suggest a scenario in which dense DNA brushes form
boundary-free compartments that are partitioned from the surrounding reservoir. We demostrate
steps towards spatial gene expression cascades and control of protein assembly on the chip.
(Select refs: Buxboim et al Small 2007 & Moecular Systems Biology 2008; Daube et al PNAS 2010;
Karzbrun et al Phys Rev Lett 2011).