CellRepo: A version control system for biotechnologists

by Leanne Hobbs

16:00 (40 min) in STREAM

The field of Synthetic Biology is accelerating, outputting more complex products than any other technology created so far. As the field continues to grow, the problem of tracking and sharing reliable information becomes increasingly difficult. Unlike other sciences and industries, Synthetic Biology has not yet found a robust solution to address issues of transparency, efficiency, reproducibility, scalability, and economics.

In this talk, I will describe CellRepo, a solution to these problems. CellRepo is a digital platform that enables version control for Synthetic Biology. It operates on "digital twins", molecularly linking the digital and physical information. This link is achieved by inserting short DNA sequences into microbial strains to act as a barcode. When recovered, the barcode provides access to the digital documentation and strain history. By bridging the gap between in-vivo and in-silico data, CellRepo aims to standardise biological information.