Join a project.
Or design your own.
New Methodologies to Control Chromatin States
We seek to control the epigenome by developing tools that block nutrient sensing and histone production. For example, we are designing “suicide histones” to disrupt cellular chromatin synthesis at a global scale, potentially for cancer treatment. To block metabolic flux into chromatin we are designing HAT1 small molecule chemical inhibitors. Finally, we seek to completely re-write the chromatin state of the cell by knocking out and replacing all core histone genes with synthetic histones.
Next-generation Cancer Immunotherapeutics
We identified VISTA as a core immune-regulator in triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive and difficult-to-treat malignancy. We are leading a phase 1 clinical trial with a new anti-VISTA therapeutic in humans at UTSW Simmons Cancer Center. Our studies on VISTA biology will help develop new immuno-therapeutics.
When Cancer is the Cure
Cancer is a terrible disease, but can it eventually help humanity? We are utilizing synthetic biology to imbue cancer cells with properties to allow them to grow using sunlight. These cells could form the basis for novel “green” technologies to do biomanufacturing of medicines, foods and eventually animals using sunlight as an energy source.