Mark Gomelsky is a synthetic biologist at the University of Wyoming who studies how to use genes that are found in bacteria as a therapeutic. Those genes might be applicable in the clinic to repair human cells that are dysfunctional.
His lab is trying to create a gene circuit so that a synthetic molecule, like insulin, could be produced on demand in patients who needed it. That production could then be turned off when the levels were restored to normal. Learn more about how his team is using light to manipulate these gene circuits, and see a demonstration of how it could work.