Genetic circuits perform logical operations similar to electric circuits. However, genetic circuits are never fully decoupled from the background processes going on in the cell, because the molecular machinery processing the genetic information is shared with all other genes. Exponential growth of bacteria can be used as a model system to study this coupling. The talk will discuss several aspects of bacterial growth from a modeling perspective including the effects of growth rate and the division cycle on gene circuits and the role of these effects in tolerance of bacterial populations to antibiotics.
Stefan Klumpp studied physics at the University of Heidelberg. He turned towards biophysics and biology during his doctoral work (2003) at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and a postdoctoral stay at the University of California at San Diego (2006-2009). In 2009, he returned to Potsdam to head an independent research group on “Regulation of Bio-Processes” at the Max Planck Institute and since 2015 he is a professor for Theoretical Biophysics at Georg-August University of Göttingen. His research interests are biophysics at the molecular and cellular level, specifically molecular machines, gene regulation, cell growth, and cell motility.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Uwe Völker