[The Svedberg seminar] – Optogenetic control of gene expression dynamics in single cells
December 15, 2025 @ 15:15 – 16:15 CET
Mary Dunlop
Professor Boston University, USA
Bio
Mary Dunlop is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Dorf-Ebner Distinguished Faculty Fellow at Boston University. She holds additional affiliations in Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry. She graduated from Princeton University with a B.S.E. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Computer Science. She then received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. In recognition of her outstanding research contributions, she has received many honors including election as an AIMBE Fellow, the NSF Transitions Award, ACS Synthetic Biology Young Investigator Award, DOE Early Career Award, and NSF CAREER Award. She is also the recipient of several mentoring and teaching awards, including Boston University’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring Postdocs and the College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award.
Optogenetic control of gene expression dynamics in single cells
Emerging approaches that integrate optogenetics with feedback control are transforming our ability to precisely manipulate microbial gene expression dynamics. In this talk, I will present how we harnessed deep neural networks and model predictive control to impose real-time, cell-specific gene expression patterns in bacteria, revealing crucial links between dynamic regulation and functional outcomes such as antibiotic resistance. I will also highlight our use of optogenetic tools and information theory to understand how variable expression of a key transcription factor influences downstream stress response genes and impacts bacterial survival under antimicrobial stress. These approaches provide new insights into the significant roles of cellular heterogeneity and dynamic regulation, advancing our understanding of gene expression and microbial behavior at the single-cell level.
Host: Daniel Jones daniel.jones@icm.uu.se, UU
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