Engineers in biology

Delft Outlook, July 2010

In recent months, the new Bionanoscience department (part of the faculty of Applied Sciences) led by Professor Cees Dekker has gone against the prevailing trend by recruiting top researchers to take part in a broad research programme examining how living cells actually work.

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Is bionanoscience a new science?
“The most exciting developments are often to be seen at the convergence of two scientific disciplines. In this case, we are looking at the convergence of nanotechnology, which has given us the tools to measure and control things at the molecular scale, and biology, which gives us the components of the living cells we study.”

Where does the idea for bionanoscience come from?
“In the late 1990s, my group and I were working on the molecular physics of inanimate objects such as carbon nanotubes. We realised that the techniques we developed could be used for far more, such as studying biology. At the same time, biology has become more of an exact science in recent decades. After centuries in which the main activity was observation, biology is now offering many more opportunities for engineering. Two and a half years ago, long before the economic crisis, my colleague, Professor Nynke Dekker, and I approached the university’s Executive Board to suggest that greater attention should be devoted to biology. I considered this to be of crucial strategic importance to TU Delft. Thanks to the board’s positive response and the support of the Kavli Institute, the bionanoscience department was established. It builds upon the biophysics group which was set up ten years ago.”

What sort of research can we expect?
“We shall apply our nanotechnology, our singlemolecule instruments for example, to biological molecules. We can ‘grab’ proteins and DNA strings, stretch them, measure their tensile strength, and so forth. Much of this work is now being done on isolated molecules in vitro [outside the cell itself – ed.]. This gives us an idea of how the molecules function. But the next step will be measurements of the molecules in their natural environment, the living cell. We wish to cover the entire spectrum, from nanotechnology to cell biology.”

What is the difference between bionanoscience and biotechnology?
“A biotechnologist works downwards from the complex system that is a yeast cell or a bacterium. Bottom-up engineers design a system with which they can, for example, incorporate a small genetic network of just two genes into a cell. You can then study the cohesion this creates and devise new functions. An engineer’s approach is different to that of the biologist, who thinks in terms of cellular control techniques. The nanotechnology and biophysics backgrounds also entail a different approach to that usually applied by biotechnologists.”

What does your research field include?
“It is very broad and ranges from research on individual molecules to cellular biology and applications such as biosensors and lab-on-a-chip analysis. We are looking for cell biologists who wish to work alongside nanophysicists, and biophysicists who wish to talk to biologists. It’s all about the synergy within the department. We want to create something new for the twenty-first century. At the European level, we shall strive to attain a leading position at the convergence of nanophysics and molecular biology. This calls for a team of some 15 to 25 scientific staff, so a department is just the right size.”

The examples you give are all fundamental scientific research. Doesn’t this have to be valorised?
“We have the freedom of pure research here. That is what a university is for. For me, fundamental research is the most appealing kind. Applied research will also have a place in our activities, of course. In the first instance, most research will be fundamental in nature but it will eventually and inevitably lead to new applications in, say, healthcare. One example is Nynke Dekker’s research into the mechanism of the drug topotecan, which is already used in chemotherapy for cancer patients although no one knows how it actually works. Nynke has demonstrated how a molecule of topotecan worms its way into the protein topoisomerase, thus preventing the protein from removing the twists in the DNA and altering its function. She has provided the fundamental input by showing how topotecan blocks the protein.”

What is the most fundamental question being addressed by your research?
“What is life, in biological terms? How does a living cell work? Despite all the progress in biology, there are still many gaps in our knowledge. You can set five researchers to work examining each one of those gaps.”

More information:
www.ceesdekkerlab.tudelft.nl