Engineering Biology
Engineering biology has the potential to offer solutions to a range of societal challenges, including food, biomedicines, clean growth and the environment. Standards and metrology (measurement science) are critical to creating more reliable engineering biology products, services, and production processes. Improved measurement confidence helps to ensure safety, increase quality and de-risk innovation. This facilitates quick and effective translation into industry and encourages international trade.
As experts in chemical and bio-metrology, we support innovation within engineering biology through a range of different activities, including providing measurement solutions and system validation to de-risk investment and ensure reliability, and supporting knowledge transfer and training programmes to upskill and bring researchers together.
We have led on establishing metrological tools, methods, materials, and standards to support confidence in engineering biology processes used to develop transformative new products and processes. The ability to accurately manipulate the genes and genomes of living systems to perform new functions or synthesise new products is fundamental to engineering biology and is currently creating transformative improvements across many industries, including Healthcare and Medicine, Food and Agriculture, Environmental Biotechnology; Industrial Biotechnology, and Energy.
Examples of our work
The NML was a partner in the UK Centre for Engineering Biology, Metrology and Standards, funded by the UKRI Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), where we developed high-accuracy approaches for measuring the efficiency and specificity of gene editing technologies, e.g. CRISPR. Our highly sensitive methods and control materials help assess gene expression within engineered cell systems and we have published guidance[1] to aid the engineering biology community in accurately analysing their engineered gene circuits, promoters, and control elements.
More recent work has focused on the measurement of critical quality attributes (CQA) associated with tools used to deliver genes into cells, such as plasmids and viral vectors. This will help support the research, development, and translation of applications such as gene therapies and vaccine development into the healthcare system.
The NML is leading internationally on the development of new (written) standards engineering biology through international committees including the ISO 276 (Biotechnology) Technical Committee to develop consensus, standardise reporting and improve confidence across the sector. Current work includes new standards to support gene expression analysis and gene delivery.
Recently, the NML was awarded a grant by the BBSRC to provide training in the importance of good measurement practice, metrology and standards to early-stage researchers at the 15 BBSRC funded Engineering Biology Centres of Excellence. This work will support skill development for the next generation of researchers, enabling them to deliver more robust, reproducible science as they address the complex challenges within engineering biology.
[1]Applicability of Control Materials To Support Gene Promoter Characterization and Expression in Engineered Cells Using Digital PCR. Ana Fernandez-Gonzalez, Simon Cowen, Juhyun Kim, Carole A. Foy, Jose Jimenez, Jim F. Huggett, and Alexandra S. Whale. Analytical Chemistry 2022 94 (14), 5566-5574