Opto-Cybergenetics for Bioreactor Optimization: Feedback Control of Cellular Function with Light

Venue: University of Pretoria

Abstract: Living cells are dynamic, adaptive systems — rich in feedback, noise, and nonlinear behavior. Opto-cybergenetics is an emerging discipline that merges control theory, synthetic biology, and optogenetics to bring such systems under real-time feedback control. By coupling cells to computers through light-based signaling, we can now measure and modulate gene expression dynamically, enabling precise and optimal control of biological processes. In this talk, I will present recent advances in closed-loop optogenetic control for biotechnology. In one example, feedback regulation of the unfolded protein response in yeast maintained gene expression at near-optimal levels, resulting in increased protein yields. In another, dynamic cybergenetic control was used to stabilize and reprogram the composition of bacterial co-cultures in real time. Finally, I will outline how these ideas extend toward fully autonomous genetic control systems, where engineered circuits within cells perform their own regulation. Together, these developments illustrate how opto-cybergenetics is transforming biotechnology into a truly cyber-physical discipline — one where light, computation, and living matter are seamlessly integrated through feedback.

Co-hosted by SACAC and NITheCS