Kate Adamala, an associate professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development in the College of Biological Sciences, is at the forefront of research that could advance biomanufacturing using synthetic biology. She’s leading efforts to ensure the work is done as safely as possible. Adamala is a principal investigator for one of 17 projects recently funded by BioMADE, a Manufacturing Innovation Institute sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense. Her project, in collaboration with colleagues at the Georgia University of Technology, will analyze the security and safety implications of biomanufacturing using cell-free systems-based solutions.
“All the reasons why [human-engineered biological] systems are awesome are also the reasons we might have potential concerns about them,” says Adamala.“ These systems are compatible with biology, but they’re also designed to bypass nature’s limitations, so they’re not constrained by biology.”
Adamala is an expert in developing and researching “cell-free” systems. These systems borrow basic machinery purified from living cells and are tasked with simple functions like protein synthesis or chemical production. Cell-free systems could be an optimal model for bio-manufacturing purposes because they don’t have the upkeep or evolutionary complexity of living cells.
“The long-term goal of these projects is to enable commercial use of synthetic biology technologies and scale up biomanufacturing,” says Adamala. “Our goal is to identify concerns and draft possible safeguards to prevent things that could go wrong, specifically with the deployment of cell-free technologies at large scale.”
Cell-free technologies are still in the beginning stages of development and are reliant on strict environmental conditions. Adamala works with them on a near daily basis, and so far sees no cause for concern. “That’s why it’s really important to be doing this work right now,” she says, “before it becomes good enough to actually have harmful potentials, we should know how to safeguard it.” –Adara Taylor