Drew Endy

Drew Endy, Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University School of Engineering

Research Description: The Endy lab has organized and led work in synthetic biology with a special emphasis on abstraction and standardization of synthetic genetic parts and devices since 2002. They also pioneered the concept of genetic and genome refactoring. Using this background and to help patients realize better glycemic control, the Endy lab aims to develop a synthetic live bacterial therapeutic using the skin commensal bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis. Specifically, they are designing and installing into S. epidermidis a synthetic integrated gene circuit that senses blood glucose levels (BGL) and releases a biologically active single-chain insulin analog in response to the appropriate BGL (i.e., >130 mg/dl glucose). They will achieve this through: (1) the development of a biosensor, to detect blood glucose levels; (2) the development of a genetic actuator to produce and deliver the single-chain insulin analog at appropriate BGL; and (3) the installation of the synthetic integrated gene circuit into S. epidermidis. Together, these proposed studies could advance the development of novel therapeutic approaches for type 1 diabetes.

Selected relevant publications (SDRC Members in BOLD): 

  1. Calles J, Justice I, Brinkley D, Garcia A, Endy D. Fail-safe genetic codes designed to intrinsically contain engineered organisms. Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Nov 4;47(19):10439-10451. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkz745. PMID: 31511890; PMCID: PMC6821295. 

  2. Breton Fujishima K, Wang KM, Palmer JA, Abe N, Nakahigashi K, Endy D, Rothschild LJ. Reconstruction of cysteine biosynthesis using engineered cysteine-free enzymes. Sci Rep. 2018 Jan 29;8(1):1776. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-19920-y. PMID: 29379050; PMCID: PMC5788988.