The Value of a Standard Chassis for Synthetic Biology

Interested individuals must follow Steps 1, 2 and 3 at this link on how to apply
http://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/prospective-students/postgraduate/pgr/how-to-apply

Considerable economic benefits are expected from Synthetic Biology, and the UK aims to achieve a £10bn synthetic biology market by 2030 (SBLC 2016). We aim to test the specific drivers that create value, drawing on biology, economics and sociology of science. This project focuses on the host cell or ‘chassis’ for biological engineering. The chassis constrains the technical capabilities of the system and determines which research communities engage in related projects. We will ask which, how, and how much benefit arises from focussing research and development on a standard chassis. Our results will help to plan future investment in Synthetic Biology, for example into new chassis.

The project’s approach is to gather quantitative and qualitative evidence on the value of a chassis. Two contrasting chassis will be selected among ongoing projects in the UK Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology. The investigation of economic value will measure the direct benefit of chassis use, by estimating the additional time and cost that would result from conducting these projects in a different cell type or organism, or from developing an alternative host to the same functional level. The exploration of social value recognises that standard chassis are not discovered in nature but created by a community of scientists, building on past research. This community of practice contributes to the value of the chassis, which we also seek to define and to measure.

Qualitative and quantitative research skills will be required, across multiple disciplines. The supervisory team will provide the necessary support and direction, along with appropriate training from the SynthSys centre and associated Schools. The project builds on research on the value of model organisms in molecular genetics and synthetic biology, which is ongoing in our groups (Calvert and Frow 2015).

Supervision team:

Prof. Andrew Millar FRS FRSE (Biological Sciences) leads, with expertise in biological research, modelling and data management. Dr. Jane Calvert (Social and Political Sciences) provides social science expertise, with qualitative analysis of both synthetic biology and model organisms. Prof. Paolo Quattrone (Business School) provides expertise in accountancy and valuation studies.

Group websites and social media:

Millar, http://www.amillar.org, @A_J_Millar;

Calvert, http://www.stis.ed.ac.uk/people/academic_staff/calvert_jane and http://www.stis.ed.ac.uk/engineeringlife, @EngineerLife;

Quattrone, http://www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/about/people/910/Paolo/Quattrone, @PaoloQuattrone

The PhD student will become part of a cohort of graduates students linked to the research of the new UK Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology (the ‘Centre’), based at the University of Edinburgh. Through support from the Research Council’s Synthetic Biology for Growth programme and of the BBSRC, EPSRC and MRC, the University has been awarded ~ £18M in funding to establish a national facility for DNA synthesis (the Edinburgh Genome Foundry) and one of six UK Centres of Excellence in Synthetic Biology. Edinburgh’s Centre embeds colleagues from the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. More information about our Centre can be found at http://www.synbio.ed.ac.uk and follow us on Twitter @SynthSysEd.

This is an exciting opportunity to be at the cutting edge of this fast moving area of science and technology in world-leading research institutes. We are looking for highly motivated graduates who are enthusiastic about the potential of this new area of science and keen to work across disciplines.