University of Chicago Parijata Mackey

Greetings, and welcome to my site! If you're here for professional reasons, click here (or scroll down) for a CV. If you're here because you know me, hello, and a splendid day to you! If you're here because you're in BIOS 20234, click here or in BIOS 20244, click here. If you're here because you're bored and have spent way too much time googling people you knew in high school, feel free to look around.

Synthetic biology has been generally defined as the engineering of biology: the synthesis of complex, biologically based (or inspired) systems, which display functions that do not exist in nature. This engineering perspective may be applied at all levels of the hierarchy of biological structures—from individual molecules to whole cells, tissues and organisms. In essence, synthetic biology will enable the design of 'biological systems' in a rational and systematic way (Synthetic Biology: Applying Engineering to Biology: Report of a NEST High Level Expert Group).

Our research group is interested in engineering E. coli to express Mefp-3,5 proteins, which are found naturally in mussels, and are strong bioadhesives, as well as powerful antibiofouling agents. We aim to produce results that will acheive the initial goals of genetic engineering, as well as further the conceptual goals of synthetic biology.

Automated DNA construction will allow us to design and "print" sequence information. Our ability to synthesize custom DNA is increasing in accuracy and speed, and costing increasingly less (currently under $0.10 per base). Abstraction is the process of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically in order to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose. It is a mechanism and practice to reduce and factor out details so that one may focus on a few concepts at a time. For example, abstracting “a well-worn, bouncy basketball” to simply “a ball” retains only the information on the attributes and behavior of a general ball. Similarly, abstracting an emotional state to “happiness” or “sadness” reduces the amount of information conveyed about the emotional state. However, these abstractions allow us to hide complexity, and utilize a greater amount of parts in a simpler design.

In synthetic biology, genetic code is abstracted into chunks, known primarily as biological "parts." These parts allow us to build increasingly complex systems; putting several parts together creates a "device," which is regulated by start codons, stop codons, restriction sites, and similar coding regions known as "features." Please visit MIT's Standard Registry of Parts for more detailed information, and tutorials on how to make your own biological part!

In short, we are interested in designing and synthesizing artificial biological systems in a systematic, rational manner. This is about developing a biological programming language. We want to move from an ad-hoc research approach to a scalable engineering framework. We hope to accomplish this through a comprehensive and collaborative study of genetics, systems biology, computer science, and many rounds of trial-and-error.

Rapid Universal Pathogen Identification with Oligonucleotide Microarrays: Census, Mechanisms, and Discovery. Lawrence Livermore National Labs Research Symposium. August 10, 2006.

N6-Furfuryladenine, Phytolacca americana Lectin, Catalase, and Superoxide Dismutase-1 (CuZnSOD), as Agents of DNA Protection or Repair against Ionizing Radiation in Drosophila melanogaster. Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium. April 1, 2006.

DHS Scholarship Program. ISEF Scholar. 2005.
Mount Sinai Medical Center. YPC Scholar. 2005.
Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald. Silver Knight in Science. 2005.

Department of Homeland Security (June 2007 – September 2007). Construction of a Virulence Ontology.
Department of Homeland Security (June 2006 - August 2006). Rapid Pathogen Identification with Oligonucleotide Microarrays.
Massachussets Institute of Technology (August 2004 – June 2005). Reverse Polar Induction in Kinetic Fuel Cells.
Barry University (August 2003 – June 2005). Agents of DNA Protection or Repair against Ionizing Radiation.

Biophysics and Chemical Biology (BIOS 20244). Teaching Assistant.
March 2007-June 2007 . University of Chicago.

Molecular Biology of the Cell (BIOS 20234). Teaching Assistant.
September 2006-December 2006. University of Chicago.

Philosophy of Biology (February 2008-present). Research Assistant.
Wimsatt Office. University of Chicago. Chicago, IL

Synthetic Biology (December 2007-present). Independent Research.
Kron Lab, University of Chicago. Chicago, IL

Pathogen Bioinformatics (June 2007-September 2007). Programmer.
Slezak Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA

Pathogen Bioinformatics (June 2006-August 2006) Programmer.
Slezak Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA

Plant Immunology (March 2005-April 2006) Research Assistant.
Greenberg Lab, University of Chicago Chicago, IL.

Science Connections: Genetics (March 2005-July 2006) Demonstrator.
Museum of Science and Industry. Chicago, IL

Emergency Department Psychology (December 2005-May 2006) Research Assistant.
Fisher Lab, University of Chicago Hospitals. Chicago, IL

Molecular Genetics and Ionizing Radiation (August 2003-July 2005) Independent Research.
Packert Lab, Barry University Miami, FL

Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium (CAURS).
Director, University of Chicago. 2006-2007.

Roosevelt Institute (RI), Center on Science and Technology.
Editor. University of Chicago. 2005-2007.

Chicago Biological Investigator (CBI).
Editor. University of Chicago. 2006-2007.

American Chemical Society (ACS).
Student Member. 2005-present.

American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Student Member. 2005-present.

Children’s Care Volunteer (December 2005-June 2006)
Comer’s Children’s Hospital. Chicago, IL.

Emergency Room, Admitting, Transport (July 2005-September 2005)
Aventura Hospital. Miami, FL.

Webmaster, Student Fundraising Coordinator. (September 2004-September 2005)
Friends of the Science Fair Miami, FL

Assistant Webmaster, Awards Program Manager (August 2004-September 2005).
Web Design Miami. Miami, FL

Secretary (August 2004-September 2005)
North Miami Beach City Council Youth Advisory Board. Miami, FL.

Historian (August 2003-August 2004)
North Miami Beach City Council Youth Advisory Board. Miami, FL

and there were four and Luca said four and the fifth was you. And Luca was our Mother and Luca said four, though there were more and to four you are confined. To four you wake to four you die, to length and width and height and time. Our alphabet has but four letters, and you to read it. Luca's pop was loud and raucous when young. Childhood was harsh and long, but light and dark emerged.To good and bad, to write and wrong, to up and down you only see, though there are more, there would be more, if Thompson's earnest was before. The neutral drops met their charm, the seed of Faith lost our fourth its last; three for Mark was sure. James' vote half-cast in leftern Palm, burning Wick, told us so. Puzzle box, puzzled box. Rocks are life; all is absurd. Don't climb out; pull it down and carry it with you wherever you go. But when you lose your wallet. Mother doesn't know. Mother is dead. Nous n'avons aucun lait. She had no blood to spill. Mais ne vous comme aucune crème? We never knew her, but through Men tell. He learned of Her but never knew; his children saw her through their mirrors, but night's shade did not protect them from the Staff. The tree grew, but short and wide, and Dulca never met her twin. Till minutes later, Solatude united them one annum. Mara's beauty was like her sister's. They raised us on the tainted fruits, wo men hui yong yuan shi ni de jia ren, the toxic wings increased our strength, wo men bu hui pao qi ni de. The toll was high, and ever rises. Puzzle box, puzzled box. Rocks are life; all is absurd. Mother never meant. Mother never knew