Comparison of closed loop control strategies for the activation of genetic switches

The performance of biomanufacturing systems can be improved by incorporating inducible synthetic gene circuits which ‘switch’ the microbial cell factories from growth to production upon the manual addition of a small molecule activator. Here, we consider feedback strategies which enable autonomous activation of a genetic circuit based on cell state. Using a multi-scale modelling framework which takes into account the dynamics of microbial growth and pathway production, we show that population-based feedback offers a promising strategy for autonomous activation of genetic switches.