Project Description

The objective of InCell is to investigate aspects of endosymbiotic relationships and exploring the possibility of establishing an orthogonal platform for future uses of artificial endosymbiosis in synthetic biology. We believe synthetically modified organisms to be a promising field of study with applications within many fields, including medicine and agriculture.

In the project we will explore three mechanisms that we believe are imperative for the establishment of a stable endosymbiotic relationship. The mechanisms will be investigated in three parallel sub-projects; mutual dependency between the interacting organisms, control of replication, and protein and metabolite exchange. Our project will not attempt to create an endosymbiont, but instead investigate the mechanisms in free-living cells in a bottom-up approach to endosymbiosis.