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SUMMARY:Designing Cell-Based Treatment Strategies of the Future
DTSTART:20190318T121500
DTSTAMP:20260916T065537Z
UID:f5e33400f73446f02ece90ff2fae7733b43e667a9a623e0cd6115bf3
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Martin Fussenegger\, ETH Zürich\, Basel (CH)\nWEEKLY BI
 OENGINEERING COLLOQUIA SERIES\n(sandwiches served)\n\nAbstract: \nSince Pa
 racelsus’ (1493-1541) definition that the dose makes the drug\, the basi
 c treatment strategies have largely remained unchanged. Following diagnosi
 s of a disease the doctor prescribes specific doses of small-molecule drug
 s or protein pharmaceuticals which interfere with disease-associated molec
 ular targets. However\, this treatment concept lacks any diagnostic feedba
 ck\, prophylactic impact and dynamic dosage regimen. We have pioneered the
  concept of metabolic prostheses which\, akin to mechanical prosthesis rep
 lacing defective body parts\, interface with host metabolism to detect and
  correct metabolic disorders. Metabolic prostheses consist of designer cel
 ls containing synthetic sensor-effector gene networks which detect critica
 l levels of disease metabolites\, processes pathological input with Boolea
 n logic and fine-tune in-situ production and release of protein therapeuti
 cs in a seamless\, self-sufficient and closed-loop manner. When implanted 
 inside insulated\, immunoprotective and autovascularizing microcontainers 
 the metabolic prostheses connect to the bloodstream\, constantly monitor t
 he levels of disease-associated metabolites and trigger an immediate thera
 peutic response to prevent\, attenuate or correct the disease. With their 
 unique characteristic to dynamically link diagnosis to dose-specific in-si
 tu production and delivery of protein pharmaceuticals\, metabolic prothese
 s will enable new treatment strategies in the future. To highlight the imp
 act of synthetic biology on future biomedical applications\, we will prese
 nt our latest generation of remote-controlled gene switches\, biosensor ci
 rcuits and metabolic prostheses tailored to diagnose\, prevent and cure hi
 gh-prevalence medical conditions including diabetes\, cancer\, pain\, and 
 multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria.\n\nBio:\nMartin Fussenegger is Pr
 ofessor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystem
 s Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) of the ETH Zurich in Basel as well as a
 t the University of Basel. His research focuses on mammalian cell engineer
 ing\, in particular on the assembly of synthetic gene circuits that proces
 s complex control and closed-loop expression logic as well as on the produ
 ction of theranostic designer cell implants that interface with host metab
 olism to correct prominent metabolic disorders. Martin Fussenegger graduat
 ed with Werner Arber at the Biocenter of the University of Basel (1992)\, 
 obtained his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology (1994) at the Max Planck Instit
 ute of Biology (Tübingen\, Germany) and continued his postdoctoral studie
 s on host-pathogen interactions at the Max Planck Institute of Infection B
 iology (Berlin\, 1995). He then joined the ETH Institute of Biotechnology 
 (1996)\, where he received his habilitation in 2000\, and became Swiss Nat
 ional Science Foundation Professor of Molecular Biotechnology in 2002\, pr
 ior to being awarded a Chair in Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the ET
 H Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering in 2004. On a presidential mis
 sion\, he moved to Basel in 2008 to build up the D-BSSE\, the Department o
 f Biosystems Science and Engineering of the ETH Zurich. Martin Fussenegger
  received the Gaden Award\, the Merck Cell Culture Engineering Award\, the
  Medal of the European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT)\, the Gu
 tenberg Chair Excellence Award\, two consecutive Advanced Grant Awards of
  the European Research Council and the James E. Bailey Award. Martin Fusse
 negger is a member of the American Institute for Medical and Biological En
 gineering (AIMBE)\, the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW)\, EMB
 O and a foreign member of the United States of America National Academy of
  Engineering (NAE).\n\nZoom link for attending remotely: https://epfl.zoom
 .us/j/764049338\n 
LOCATION:SV 1717 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SV%201717
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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