Marc Güell

Group website


Research Outline

Our group aims to leverage synthetic biology and gene editing to generate technologies with therapeutic potential. We have lines of research in new natural product evolution, microbiome engineering, and precise tools for gene therapy.

Engineering biological components enables us to explore unique opportunities, to learn biology by rebuilding biology, and to provide solutions to current challenges. Biological systems are uniquely precise and specific. I expect that the interface between systems observation and modeling, with synthetic biology will grow in importance, and translate into an extremely high impact in society.

 

Research Lines

  • Mammalian genome editing and gene therapy

We are developing technology for mammalian genome engineering for gene therapy. We are deploying precise gene delivery technologies to MDC1A muscle dystrophy and CAR-T.
(UPGRADE-H2020; SAF2017-88784-R-MINECO; Fund. Ramón Areces).

 

  • Skin microbiome engineering

We are developing technology for engineering the skin microbiome. We use these tools to implement microbiome-based sensors and therapeutic technologies.
(ONR-NAVY).

 

  • Multiplex engineering of natural products

Evolution of new natural products with antimicrobial profiles using multiplex genome engineering.
(KAUST tech transfer, BIO2017-82084-ERC-MINECO).

 

Team during 2017-18

  • Postdocs: Mariajose Fábrega, Avencia Sánchez-Mejías, Daniela A. García.
  • PhD students: Maria Pallarès, Nastassia Knodelseder.
  • Technicians:  Maria Marín, Jèssica Jaraba, Miquel Sas (shared with Ojalvo and Macia lab).

 

Selected publications 2017-18

  • Bernhard Paetzold, Jesse R Willis, Joao Lima, Nastassia Knodlseder, Sven R Quist, Toni Gabaldon, Marc Güell Skin microbiome modulation induced by probiotic solutions (2018) BioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/423285.

  • Niu et al.,…, Marc Güell*, George Church*, Luhan Yang* (*equally contributing) Eradication of porcine endogenous retrovirus activity in pigs using CRISPR-Cas9 (2017) Science 357(6357): 1303-1307.

  • Güell et al. PERV inactivation is necessary to guarantee absence of pig‐to‐patient PERVs transmission in xenotransplantation (2017) Xenotransplantation 24(6).

  • L Fang, M Güell, GM Church, BA Pfeifer Heterologous erythromycin production across strain and plasmid construction (2017) Biotechnology progress 34(1):271-276.

  • Luhan Yang, Adrian W. Briggs, Wei Leong Chew, Prashant Mali, Marc Güell, John Aach, Daniel Bryan Goodman, David Cox, Yinan Kan, Emal Lesha, Venkataramanan Soundararajan, Feng Zhang & George Church Engineering and optimising deaminase fusions for genome editing (2016) Nature Communications 7:13330.

 

Other relevant information 2017-18

  • Multiplexed Genome Editing GM Church, L Yang, M Guell US Patent App. 15/888,581.

  • Caixaimpulse project awarded for valorization plan gene editing technologies (UNI-LARGE).

  • Chair of scientific advisory board - Sbiomedic.

  • Premi Nacional de Recerca al Talent jove. FCRI. Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

  • Premi Consell Social UPF a la Transferència de Coneixement. Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.