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Rational Design of Host-Plasmid Interaction for an Advanced Plasmid Manufacturing Platform

Project ID: 2531ac1464

(You will need this ID for your application)

Research Theme: Engineering

UCL Lead department: Biochemical Engineering

Department Website

Lead Supervisor: Eli Keshavarz-Moore

Partner Organisation: Sanofi Aventis Pharma Ltd

Stipend enhancement: £2,000 per year

Project Summary:

Current advanced therapies such as cell and gene therapy, mRNA and vaccines rely heavily on consistent and rapidly available high quality plasmid as raw material. One area of research needed to enhance the efficiency of production is understanding of the interaction between plasmids and the host that produces them at cellar and molecular level. this requires an understanding of processing and also aspects of cell engineering and synthetic biology.

The candidate will be working with an experienced team led by Professor Eli Keshavarz-Moore based at UCL Biochemical Engineering department, that is world leader in bioprocess research for creating novel engineering solutions to underpin future biomanufacturing . In addition this is an industrial project sponsored by Sanofi a major mover and shaker in the advanced therapies and vaccines. The candidate will undertake research into the interaction between plasmid and cells all the way from molecular to processing steps. the aim is to create a rational system to underpin the creation of an efficient and rapid manufacturing platform.

The candidate would have had training in synthetic biology/ cell engineering with good understanding of its impact on processing.