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Zhanar Abil

Assistant Professor

Ph.D. University of Illinois, 2015

 

Office: 410 Carr Hall
Phone #: (352) 294-6850
Email: abilz@ufl.edu
Lab Website: The Abil Lab

 
Google scholar citations

 

 

 

 

Background

  • Scientific consultant, Strand Therapeutics, 2021-2023
  • Postdoctoral fellow, Delft Technical University (mentored by Christophe Danelon) 2018-2021
  • Postdoctoral fellow, University of Texas Austin (mentored by Andrew Ellington) 2015-2018
  • Ph.D. Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (mentored by Huimin Zhao), 2015
  • BS Biotechnology, Indiana University Bloomington, (undergraduate research mentored by Eric Knox), 2009

 

Research Interests

We now understand the mechanisms of many different biological processes. However, we still haven’t been able to build a unified theory of life, a theory that would explain life’s origins and describe life beyond the bounds of the singular example of life on Earth. One of the questions that I want to address is: What general properties and processes make up a living system? Bottom-up synthetic biology has the potential to provide invaluable insight for building such a unified theory of life. This research field focuses on one of the greatest goals in synthetic biology today – generating an artificial living system or building a synthetic cell.

From a chemical perspective, a living system can be described as an ensemble autocatalytic system that is kinetically stable but far from a thermodynamic equilibrium. Can we re-build a similar system in a lab from non-living components? The long-term goal of my research direction is generating synthetic life that mimics the cyclically catalytic nature of living organisms. To achieve this goal, my lab will build and study a variety of cell-free genetic circuits that close in on themselves in positive feedback loops. I call these circuits Autocatalytic Gene Circuits (ACGCs). My lab is interested in building, evolving, and studying ACGCs with respect to their ability to synthesize biopolymers, evolve, and integrate to more complex genetic networks.

Open Postitions

I am currently seeking highly motivated postdocs, graduate students, and lab technicians to join the lab. If you are interested in cell-free synthetic biology or bottom-up synthetic biology, contact me at abilz@ufl.edu.

Representative Publications

  • Abil*, A.M. Restrepo*, C. Danelon, “Clonal amplification-enhanced gene expression in synthetic vesicles.” ACS Synth Biology (2023). doi 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00668 (IF 5.1) *Equal contribution
  • Abil, C. Danelon, Roadmap to Building a Cell: An Evolutionary Approach. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 8, 1–8 (2020).
  • Abil, J. W. Ellefson, J. D. Gollihar, E. Watkins, A. D. Ellington, Compartmentalized partnered replication for the directed evolution of genetic parts and circuits. Nat Protoc. 12, 2493– 2512 (2017).
  • Abil, L. F. Gumy, H. Zhao, C. C. Hoogenraad, Inducible Control of mRNA Transport Using Reprogrammable RNA-Binding Proteins. ACS Synth Biol. 6, 950–956 (2017).
  • Cuculis*, Z. Abil*, H. Zhao, C. M. Schroeder, Direct observation of TALE protein dynamics reveals a two-state search mechanism. Nat Commun. 6 (2015), doi:10.1038/ncomms8277. *These authors contributed equally
  • Abil, C. A. Denard, H. Zhao, Modular assembly of designer PUF proteins for specific post- transcriptional regulation of endogenous RNA. J Biol Eng. 8 (2014), doi:10.1186/1754-1611- 8-7.