£2m for UK-Japan collaboration to unlock the potential of SynCell materials
The Japan-UK SYNERGY research consortium has received £2 million from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency to improve the functional lifespan of cell mimics, and thus unlock their technological potential.
Source: press release from Imperial College
A promising SynCell technology but hampered by a too short functional lifespan
Synthetic cell (SynCell) technology, i.e. a technology based on imitating the natural processes of cells, holds immense potential across various fields from medicine to environmental sustainability: enabling advanced drug delivery and regenerative therapies; in environmental remediation, breaking down pollutants and toxins; and in industry they could drive innovation in biotechnology, leading to more efficient and sustainable production methods for biofuels, synthetic materials and food production.
However, the cell-like structures developed by researchers around the world currently have limited ability to sustain function over time.
Oscar Ces, co-leader of the Japan-UK SYNERGY consortium, explained: “SynCell technologies have the potential to revolutionise healthcare, biomanufacturing and environmental remediation. Translation of SynCell technologies is, however, hampered by their inability to function for extended periods of time due to challenges with generating, transforming, and storing energy.“
A wide range of expertise to tackle energy management and unlock SynCell technologies
The three-year Japan-UK SYNERGY collaboration, involving talented researchers from Imperial College London, Cambridge and the Institute of Science Tokyo, aims to tackle this research bottleneck and give a boost to SynCell technologies with a longer functional lifespan.
In the UK, the co-leaders are Oscar Ces (speciality: microfluidics), Yuval Elani (biohybrid systems), Lorenzo Di Michele (nucleic acid nanotechnology), and James Hindley (biomembrane engineering). In Japan, Masahiro Takinoue (nucleic acid nanotechnology), Takafumi Ueno (protein biomaterial engineering), Tomoaki Matsuura (cell-free systems) and Hiroka Sugai (supramolecular chemistry) complete the leadership team.
Bottom, left to right: Takafumi Ueno, Masahiro Takinoue, Tomoaki Matsuura, and Hiroka Sugai
“This project combines UK and Japan-based expertise in SynCell engineering to create a unique, world-leading research consortium. By developing new molecular technologies for energy management, we aim to unlock the potential of SynCell materials for diverse applications from healthcare to environmental remediation,” said James Hindley, co-leader of Japan-UK SYNERGY.
Opportunities for collaboration and development for early-career researchers
The Japan-UK SYNERGY project marks the first phase of a broader ambition to establish a UK-Japan SynCell Alliance, fostering a long-term international research network dedicated to the design, standardisation and application of synthetic cell technologies. Additionally, the project will promote knowledge sharing by connecting two national synthetic cell communities: fabriCELL Centre for Synthetic Cell Research at Imperial and the Japan Society for Cell Synthesis Research (JSCSR). This collaboration will provide opportunities for the development of early career researchers, ensuring that the next generation of scientists can both contribute to and benefit from advancements in this field.
“We envisage that this will further develop our existing collaborations and enable the formation of new projects and partnerships across the consortium,” said Lorenzo Di Michele.
The consortium’s three main projects will focus on energy production and storage. They will involve three UK postdoctoral research associates recruited specifically for the programme, as well as UK PhD students and up to 15 early-career Japanese researchers. There will also be bi-directional exchanges between the UK and Japan.
By providing solutions for energy management in synthetic cells through sustained innovation and international cooperation, the research team hopes to see synthetic cells soon transition from lab research to transformative real-world applications.