Biochemical and Cellular Engineering - 585.746

This course provides a foundation of molecular and biochemical principles required for engineering cells accompanied by a survey of biomedical applications of biochemically engineered cells with a focus on medical uses. Class lectures provide an overview of molecular biology and biochemistry fundamentals that include protein/ligand binding, receptor/ligand trafficking, cell-cell interactions, cell-matrix interactions, and cell adhesion and migration at both theoretical and experimental levels. Lectures will also cover the effects of physical (e.g., shear stress, strain), biochemical (e.g., cytokines, growth factors), and other (e.g., electrical) stimuli on cell function, emphasizing gene regulation, signal transduction, metabolic engineering, polymeric biomaterials, and drug and gene delivery. Finally, lectures will cover biomedical applications of engineered cells ranging from viral-based systems, prokaryote manipulation (e.g., in the context of the microbiome), to cell-based therapies (e.g., CAR T cell and other immunotherapies). An ongoing emphasis in course lectures will be to provide illustrative examples of how “Nature” engineers cells and how these lessons can be applied by biomedical engineers for clinical translation applications. In addition to lectures provided by course instructors, students will work in teams on a course project on a topic of their choosing (subject to course instructor approval) that involves an oral presentation as well as a written report.Recommended prerequisites: Background in undergraduate level cell biology, biochemistry, and/or organic chemistry.