Synthetic Biophysical Systems Group

Welcome! We are a research group at The University of Edinburgh. Led by Dr Nadanai Laohakunakorn, our vision is to master the use of cell-free synthetic biology to enable a wide variety of applications in biomanufacturing, biosensing, and healthcare.

Harnessing these simplified mimics of living cells gives us a unique approach to understanding life, by building it up from its most basic components.

Please check back regularly for updates!

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Photo: Z. Swank

News

  • 30 April 2025 » Our paper combining cell-free screening of enzymes with machine learning is now published. Fantastic collaboration with the Regan lab, and many congratulations to Ella for her hard work to make this happen.

  • 14 March 2025 » Two for two! Our second PhD student Dr. Surendra Yadav has just passed his viva today. Like Alex, Surendra was a founding member of the group and we will miss not only his expertise but also his cheerful presence. We wish him all the best for his future career!

    • SYviva

  • 3 March 2025 » We welcome two new members to our group: Dr. Nicoll Zeballos Lema joins us from Stephen Wallace's lab to work on enhancement of PURE systems; and MSc exchange student Shivangi Pandey arrives from Kavita Yadav's group at the Gujarat Biotechnology University to look at cell-free systems for metabolic engineering.

  • 4 January 2025 » Our paper is published in ACS Synthetic Biology: ATP regeneration from pyruvate in the PURE system. We describe a new ATP regeneration pathway for the PURE system, based on pyruvate and phosphate. Congratulations to everyone who contributed, particularly Surendra, who led the study.

  • 5 December 2024 » Massive congratulations to Dr. Alex Perkins for passing his viva today. We are extremely proud of his achievements, and as one of the 'founding members' of our group, his energy, enthusiasm, and friendship will be greatly missed by all of us. We wish him every success for the future!

    • APviva

  • 28 November 2024 » We had a great time at Synthetic Biology UK, catching up with old friends and colleagues as well as meeting many new people. Well done to Aarushi for her great poster, and congratulations to Ella for her amazing talk (which also won the best presentation award)!

    • SBUK