US 2018/0004537 A1 · Molecular State Machines

Abstract

A molecular state machine is implemented in a cell by designing the cell to use specific homology directed repair (“HDR”) templates for repairing double strand breaks in polynucleotides based on a current “state” of the cell. The state may be established by the presence of a molecule in the cell or by the availability of specific cut sites in the polynucleotides of the cell. Different HDR templates or different nucleases may be available for performing HDR based on the state. When the state is changed, the same signal or event will result in a different HDR template being incorporated into the existing polynucleotides of the cell. Signals that are internal or external to the cell may be used to change the state of the cell. The cell may create a log of molecular events, store binary data, or perform other synthetic biology/molecular computing functions based on state.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A molecular state machine implemented in a cell comprising:

an engineered signaling pathway that generates a tracking molecule in response to a first signal associated with a first state;
an operon that changes a rate of transcription of an RNA product based on the tracking molecule;
a double-stranded polynucleotide having a target site;
a homology directed repair (HDR) template with homology to the target site, wherein an amount of the HDR template available in the cell or an activity of a nuclease configured to create a double strand break (DSB) at a cut site in the target site is increased by the RNA product;
and
an inhibition system that reduces the amount of HDR template available in the cell or the activity of the nuclease.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Molecular State Machines

Life of this patent

Molecular State Machines

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20