RESEARCH INTEREST
Synthetic Biology and Biomolecular Engineering
Recent advances in genomics and biotechnology have enabled us to start understanding biological systems as a whole rather than a collection of isolated biochemical events. At the same time, bioengineers who started with modifying single or few genes and proteins are beginning to design and construct more complex biological systems that often mimic those found in nature. Our goal is to develop tools that will enable us to engineer complex cellular functions such as sensing various molecules (proteins, drugs, metabolites, etc), processing information, and intervene in gene regulation. We currently focus on engineering RNA to control gene expression in mammalian and prokaryotic cells in response to various molecules.
PUBLICATIONS
Y. Nomura, Y. Yokobayashi, 2007, “Reengineering a natural riboswitch by dual genetic selection,” Journal of the Americal Chemical Society, 129: 13814-13815.
W. Yoshida, Y. Yokobayashi, 2007, “Photonic boolean logic gates based on DNA aptamers,” Chemical Communications, 195-197.
Y. Nomura, Y. Yokobayashi, 2007, “Dual selection of a genetic switch by a single selection marker,” Biosystems, 90: 115-120.
C.-I. An, V. B. Trinh, Y. Yokobayashi, 2006, “Artificial control of gene expression in mammalian cells by modulating RNA interference through aptamer-small molecule interaction,” RNA, 12: 710-716.
Y. Yokobayashi, F. H. Arnold, 2005, “A dual selection module for directed evolution of genetic circuits,” Natural Computing, 4: 245-254.
Y. Yokobayashi, R. Weiss, F. H. Arnold, 2002, "Directed evolution of a genetic circuit," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA, 99: 16587-16591.
MAJOR RESEARCH INTERESTS
Design and construction of synthetic biomolecular networks. Protein and RNA engineering. Directed evolution. Biosensors.
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