Switched On: Modeling Genetic Circuits for Therapeutic Purposes
To make this idea reality, scientists need to figure out how to switch drug synthesis on and off in predictable ways. Depending on therapeutic requirements, these drugs might need to be synthesized slow or fast, or in low or high concentrations.
Krešimir Josić, a professor in the University of Houston’s Department of Mathematics, is involved in an interdisciplinary collaboration that aims to do just that. This project, headed by Matthew Bennett, associate professor of biosciences at Rice University, is funded by a recent four-year, $2 million grant from NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences. From this grant, Josić’s research group received $485,000. Included in this grant are co-PI’s William Ott, UH professor of mathematics, and Liskin Swint-Kruse, associate professor at the University of Kansas.