Plenary talk: Feedback control of living cells

Summary form only given. The confluence of modern genetic manipulation techniques, powerful measurement technologies, and advanced analysis methods is enabling a new area of research in which systems and control notions are used for regulating cellular processes at the gene level. This presentation describes novel analytical and experimental work that demonstrates how de novo control systems can be interfaced with living cells and used to control their dynamic behavior. The feedback systems can either be realized on a computer (in silico control) using optogenetics or through genetically encoded parts (in vivo control). We compare and contrast both approaches and describe the theoretical and experimental opportunities and challenges in each. Applications in biotechnology and therapeutics will also be described.