Join members from the team leading the Engineered Genetic Control Systems for Advanced Therapeutics Mission Hub as they provide an overview of their expansive engineering biology programme.
You can expect to learn more about:
- the aims and objectives of this Engineering Biology Mission Hub
- research and innovation activities taking place across the consortium
- opportunities to engage with the programme
There will be an opportunity within the webinar for attendees to pose questions to the Mission Hub team.
This webinar is part of a series taking place over 2025.
Each webinar will feature members from one of the six UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Engineering Biology Mission Hub teams.
About the Engineered Genetic Control Systems for Advanced Therapeutics Mission Hub
The Engineered Genetic Control Systems for Advanced Therapeutics Mission Hub aims to harness engineering biology to improve the safety and effectiveness of gene therapy.
Gene therapy is an exciting and promising medical technology where a person’s genes are modulated, modified, or replaced to treat or cure diseases.
However, undesirable and severe side effects are a major challenge in making these therapies safe, effective and ultimately accessible to patients who need them.
This mission hub will tackle this challenge by developing a series of engineered genetic control systems to ensure that the genes that enter a patient’s body are active in the right tissue, at the right level, and for the right amount of time.
Through its engineering biology expertise, the hub will design, build, and test tools that enhance treatment specificity and targeted delivery.
These genetic systems will be embedded along the gene therapy delivery pathway, acting as controllable checkpoints and dial switches.
It will become possible to fine-tune treatment such as genes being switched on only in the tissue where they are needed, for as long as they are needed.
Importantly, it will also include safeguards such that genes are only switched on at a level that is enough to be effective but can be adjusted or regulated so as not to become toxic or switched off if things go wrong.
Ultimately, these innovations could help treat a range of disease and the hub will initially focus on heart disease, cancer, and rare diseases such as lysosomal storage disease.
The Engineered Genetic Control Systems for Advanced Therapeutics Mission Hub is led by Professor Susan Rosser at University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with partners at:
- Imperial College London
- CRUK Scotland Institute (formerly Beatson Institute)
- University of Oxford
It is underpinned by UKRI’s investment in platform technologies, such as the Edinburgh Genome Foundry, a one-of-a-kind facility providing a fully automated platform for DNA assembly and phenotyping.
Target audience
This webinar is targeted primarily at communities within the engineering biology and biotechnology research and innovation ecosystem, for example:
- researchers
- innovators
- businesses
- investors
- policymakers
This webinar will also appeal to those working within the biomedicine sector such as clinicians.
However, we encourage anyone with an interest in how UK researchers and innovators are using engineering biology to address real-world challenges to attend.
UKRI Engineering Biology Mission Hubs
In 2024, UKRI invested over £70 million in six Engineering Biology Mission Hubs.
Engineering Biology Mission Hubs are significant, long-term investments that promise to unlock the potential of engineering biology across a broad range of applications in the areas of:
- biomedicine
- clean growth
- environmental solutions
- food systems
Each of the six mission hubs aim to drive engineering biology towards tangible, mission-orientated impacts including economic and societal.
They will do this through a variety of activities, such as:
- research and innovation
- translation and commercialisation
- training
- cross-sector engagement
The mission hubs are supported through the Technology Missions Fund (TMF) programme, a joint initiative between UKRI and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
The aim of the TMF programme is to accelerate technology development, adoption, and diffusion, while cementing the UK’s global leadership in critical technologies.
This programme builds on over £800 million of UKRI investment in engineering biology since 2007.
You can find out more about our long-term support for this area through our recent showcase.