Directed Evolution

My first foray into synthetic biology was as a Research Associate in Directed Evolution/Protein Engineering in the group of Dr Vitor B. Pinheiro in the Department of Structural and Molecular Biology at UCL. My work during this time encompassed the development of robust bacterial cell display platforms that allow the efficient presentation of a range of protein functions, including DNA binders and DNA enzymes, and to endeavour to set up a generalisable method that enables the engineering of such proteins for xenobiology by directed evolution. I also started work to select for one such XNA enzyme, in collaboration with colleagues at KU Leuven.

During this time, I also collaborated on a review on selection platforms in directed evolution, a collaboration to develop E. coli periplasmic display, and an analysis of how synthetic biology approaches can help containment efforts.

I also conceived and started the London Synbio Network with a group of like-minded colleagues, and learned how to code in my spare time.