University of Sao Paulo
Research
Building Complex Synthetic Networks in Bacteria
Bacteria are endowed with a very sophisticated molecular machinery devoid to the regulation of gene expression in response to changing environments. We combine bioinformatics, molecular biology and high-throughput promoter activity analysis to decipher the logic of naturally complex regulatory network in the model bacterium Escherichia coli and to construct synthetic complex regulatory systems, aiming the understanding of its mechanisms though design-building-test cycles.
Biological Engineering for Waste Biomass Valorization
Plant cell-wall are the most abundant source of biomass in the planet. Several human processes generate waste biomass that could be used in several biotechnological applications, from the production of biofuels to high-value chemicals. We work on the development of novel fungal and bacterial strains for waste biomass valorization, targeting mainly the production of bioethanol, as well as in the mining of novel enzymatic activities related to biomass degradation using metagenomic approaches.
Expanding the Toolbox for Genetic Engineering
Our ability to understand and engineer microorganisms has experienced a tremendous progress in the last decades due to the advent of molecular biology. However, several microorganisms of biotechnological and biomedical relevance have few available genetic tools. We focus on the construction of new generation of standardized and optimized of genetic tools for microorganisms of interest.
Computational Biology for Biotech and Biomedical Applications
Our growing ability to generate high-throughput information regarding the molecular mechanisms of the cells creates a strong demand for computational tools to handle and integrate these information. We work on the generation of novel computational tools to process high-throughput data, both to get understanding of biological processes as well as to guide the engineering of new circuits in the cell. Additionally, we provide bioinformatic support for research groups requiring data integration and simpler computational analysis.