BBB seminar: David C. James
The mammalian cell factory: reverse engineering or forward planning?
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David C. James
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Sheffield, UK
What do we need to know about mammalian cell factories to either rationally direct genetic engineering for improved performance or pre-select cells with desirable characteristics? Can “X-omic” analyses provide this information? We need to move beyond comparative surveys of cellular components towards a systematic understanding of cell function in the in vitro environment. The most effective approaches will ultimately integrate data streams derived from more than one level of networked cellular organisation to enable the derivation of experimentally verifiable predictive models of cell performance. There is a necessity to combine fundamental biological knowledge with systems engineering to create a “systems biotechnology”. For mammalian cells this is a substantial task that requires a multidisciplinary approach.
Host: Beate Stern, Department of Biomedicine