B.NEXT

About the start-up

B.next, the open-core synthetic cell company based in San Francisco, is pioneering routine and reliable cell-free and synthetic cell engineering. With over a decade of expertise in bottom-up cell and cytosol engineering, cell-system integration, and biological modeling, b.next is advancing the next generation of biological design. We are building a platform that enables the construction of defined cell-free systems, where every component's identity, concentration, and mechanism are precisely characterized. Through high-throughput assembly and characterization, the platform optimizes system performance, maps component interactions, and facilitates encapsulation into synthetic cells.
For more information visit bnext.bio.

Project Title

Advancing Open-Source Synthetic Cell Engineering

Project summary

The Scholar will work on our open-source Developer Cell project, building and testing synthetic cells and cytosols, and the tools to work with them. The Developer Cell is a synthetic cell, a cell constructed from known and understood DNA, proteins, and small molecules, designed to enable new synthetic cell research and as a platform for further development of synthetic cell applications. Building the Developer Cell involves implementing and integrating new energy, control, and membrane modules within a synthetic cell, characterizing and improving the underlying DNA and cytosolic tools used to build them, and working with our cell building pipeline and open-source synthetic cell project Nucleus.

As part of the project, the scholar will learn our platform for working with synthetic cells; design, test, and validate key synthetic biology DNA tools; characterize and optimize the performance of the underlying cell-free cytosol; and build and test synthetic cell modules. The project provides the opportunity to work on cutting-edge cell-free and synthetic cell technology, enable the worldwide synthetic cell research community, explore new synthetic cell applications, and contribute to open-source biotechnology.

RESponsibility

• Design, run, and analyze experiments to test synthetic DNA tools within cell-free and synthetic cell systems.

• Design, run, and analyze experiments to characterize cell-free system performance, using low-volume liquid handling and automation.

• Build synthetic cells and explore the effect of different compositions and environments on their performance.

• Design, run, and analyze experiments to test synthetic cell energy and control modules, in cell-free systems and synthetic cells.

• Learn about and work with the open-source synthetic cell community.

• Write documentation and Developer Notes for publication through our open-source website Nucleus.

About the candidate

Pluses

The ideal candidate has a deep interest in biotechnology, a vision for how we can use it to make a positive impact on the world, and wishes to learn about and improve synthetic cell engineering.

They have a degree in Bioengineering, Biotechnology, or another related field, as well as experience in biology lab work and molecular biology techniques. They’re able to take initiative to design and run experiments, and to learn how to build and work with synthetic cells.

• Experience with lab automation, particularly Opentrons

• Computer programming experience, particularly python

• Use of Jupyter notebooks to analyze data

• Microscopy experience