Henry London

PhD thesis: Optimising gene delivery tools in bacteria using single cell timelapse imaging

With the global threat of antibiotic resistance, various techniques are currently being developed to remove resistance genes from bacterial populations through the use of CRISPR-Cas. Horizontal gene transfer using bacteriophage infection and plasmid conjugation can be used to deliver the CRISPR-Cas payload to cells in-situ; however, the delivery efficiencies need to be improved. I am developing a microfluidic platform to gather quantitative data on the performance of gene delivery tool prototypes, which will form the "test" portion of the "design-build-test-learn" cycle of rational bioengineering.

Who or what inspired you to pursue your research interests?

My interest in the intersection of physical and biological sciences is largely thanks to the Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge, where I was fortunate to have the chance to study cell biology and neurobiology alongside physics. My Part III project in Dr Tijmen Euser’s Optofluidics lab introduced me to microfluidics and biosensing. This propelled me to do a research internship in the Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, which, in turn, has brought me back to Cambridge.