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Biowright Labs
Biowright Labs
Biowright Labs is inspired by the definition of "wright" as a skilled maker or builder—as in woodwright, shipwright, or playwright—and PI Clay Wright's last name. We build understanding of biology as well as novel functions using a combination of systems and synthetic biology techniques. Our roots are in protein engineering, synthetic biology, and yeast and Arabidopsis genetics, but we explore and engineer many aspects of biology with a translational focus on improving sustainability and global public and environmental health.
Plant Synthetic Biology
Plant Synthetic Biology
The ability to faithfully transfer information–both within an organism and from one generation to the next–is essential to life. As sessile organisms, plants must be especially adept in sensing and reacting to their surroundings. Perhaps as a result of this strong selective pressure, plant evolution is marked by frequent duplication of genes and entire biological circuits. While some duplicate genes retain their ancestral functions, others can drift and potentially adopt new functions. This process of duplication and divergence expedites adaptation by creating large and highly connected networks, allowing organisms to sample greater phenotypic space than simple circuits.
Grand Goal
Grand Goal
Our research focuses on understanding how signaling networks facilitate both plasticity and robustness in plant form and function, and how we can harness this knowledge to engineer proteins, signaling networks, and biosynthetic pathways for applications in agriculture and biotechnology.
Approach
Approach
Our research integrates approaches from synthetic and computational biology, protein engineering, bioinformatics, molecular evolution, and genetics to quantify signaling dynamics, genetic interactions, and functional relationships in plant hormone signaling.
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