I2SysBio researcher Irene Otero has received the prestigious Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to develop innovative projects at the frontier of knowledge. Specifically, Otero is trying to program cognitive capacities in microorganisms using techniques such as Artificial Intelligence to provide them with new capabilities. The project is endowed with two million euros and has a duration of five years.
The CSIC scientist at the Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), a center located at the University of Valencia Science Park, will develop the CellWise project to apply new mathematical and computational methods to Synthetic Biology. This discipline is used to design or redesign biological systems (cells or microorganisms) and give them improved or new qualities. It is the basis of new techniques to produce compounds in a sustainable way in cell factories, decontaminate by means of bacteria that degrade plastics or therapies such as CAR-T cells against certain types of cancer.
CellWise aims to increase the accuracy, predictive capacity and robustness of Synthetic Biology by integrating mathematical models and Artificial Intelligence techniques. Specifically, it will address the challenge of programming cognitive capabilities in microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast. These cognitive capacities control the response of cells to certain stimuli, and are at the basis of phenomena such as antibiotic resistance and cellular aging.
“Cellular aging is a complex process that includes irreversible factors and others that can be reversed, such as the body's response to certain stimuli,” explains Otero. “Understanding these mechanisms will allow us to reprogram this response,” says the CSIC researcher. Her research group in Computational Synthetic Biology at I2SysBio will develop libraries of bacteria and yeast with cognitive capacities, such as memory and decision-making, to demonstrate that these capacities can be reprogrammed using Synthetic Biology techniques. Applications range from bioremediation to human health.
About Irene Otero
Irene Otero Muras is a Chemical Engineer and PhD in Applied Mathematics. Since 2021 she is a tenured CSIC scientist at I2SysBio, where she leads the Computational Synthetic Biology group. Her research in the design, analysis and control of molecular biocircuits aims to advance both fundamental knowledge and innovative applications in systems biology and synthetic biology. She currently leads together with other Valencian research groups the València Biofoundry initiative to contribute to the implementation of sustainable bioproduction processes in the community. She is the coordinator of the Spanish node of IBISBA, the European platform for Industrial Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology.