ABSTRACT
We present an educational unit to teach computational modeling, a vital part of chemical engineering curricula, through the lens of synthetic biology. Lectures, code, and homework questions provide conceptual and practical introductions to each computational method involved in the model development process, along with perspectives on how methods can be iterated upon to arrive at a final model. Ultimately, this content can be applied broadly to address questions in synthetic biology and classical chemical engineering.
ABSTRACT
Synthetic biology increasingly enables the construction of sophisticated functions in mammalian cells. A particularly promising frontier combines concepts drawn from industrial process control engineering-which is used to confer and balance properties such as stability and efficiency-with understanding as to how living systems have evolved to perform similar tasks with biological components. In this review, we first survey the state-of-the-art for both technologies and strategies available for genetic programming in mammalian cells. We then discuss recent progress in implementing programming objectives inspired by engineered and natural control mechanisms. Finally, we consider the transformative role of model-guided design in the present and future construction of customized mammalian cell functions for applications in biotechnology, medicine, and fundamental research.
ABSTRACT
Controlling the charge transfer between a semiconducting catalyst carrier and the supported transition metal active phase represents an elite strategy for fine turning the electronic structure of the catalytic centers, hence their activity and selectivity. These phenomena have been theoretically and experimentally elucidated for oxide supports but remain poorly understood for carbons due to their complex nanoscale structure. Here, we combine advanced spectroscopy and microscopy on model Pd/C samples to decouple the electronic and surface chemistry effects on catalytic performance. Our investigations reveal trends between the charge distribution at the palladium-carbon interface and the metal's selectivity for hydrogenation of multifunctional chemicals. These electronic effects are strong enough to affect the performance of large (~5 nm) Pd particles. Our results also demonstrate how simple thermal treatments can be used to tune the interfacial charge distribution, hereby providing a strategy to rationally design carbon-supported catalysts.Control over charge transfer in carbon-supported metal nanoparticles is essential for designing new catalysts. Here, the authors show that thermal treatments effectively tune the interfacial charge distribution in carbon-supported palladium catalysts with consequential changes in hydrogenation performance.
