Reprogramming Cellular Rhythms with Synthetic Biology

Artificially inducing a temporally-defined reset via the native pace-maker system remains challenging. While light and immune stimulation provide stimuli which can update the circadian state, inducing a new placement within the circadian rhythm requires coordination of multiple signals. Synthetic oscillators may provide a facile mechanism for synthetically controlling the periodic induction of regulatory molecules that reset the circadian clock. We aim to develop a synthetic population of pace-maker cells bearing a synthetic oscillator that regulates a small network of genes capable of resetting the circadian state. Thus, we propose to override the native period induced by the suprachiastmatic nucleus using a synthetic population of pace-maker cells.