Biomolecular control group
Systems & Synthetic Biology at the University of Edinburgh
what we do
Our team develops methods to study molecular processes in living cells. We use mathematics and computation to understand natural networks and to design novel systems for biotechnology and biomedicine. We employ a wide range of methods, such as machine learning, control theory, stochastic analysis and network theory. Large parts of our work are in collaboration with Systems and Synthetic Biology labs in the UK and abroad.
who we are
The group lead is Diego Oyarzún and includes research students and postdocs. Together we gather expertise in many disciplines like machine learning, mathematics, biochemistry and bioinformatics.
where we work
We are very lucky to be located at the School of Informatics and the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Edinburgh, in one of the most vibrant European capitals. We are members of the Edinburgh Centre for Engineering Biology.
our recent science
- Multiobjective Bayesian optimization of growth media
- Risk-averse design of synthetic gene circuits
- Representation learning of single cell time-series data
- Deep mutational learning for improved enzyme function
- Machine learning and genome-scale metabolic models for gene deletion phenotypes
- Active learning for DNA sequence optimization
- Discovery of drug candidates against brain cancer
news
| May 7, 2026 | Nicola and Cata’s paper on Bayesian optimization for media design has appeared in Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. Great team work! |
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| Mar 30, 2026 | Many congrats to Alexandra for passing her PhD viva! |
| Feb 15, 2026 | Michal’s paper on risk-averse design of synthetic gene circuits appeared in Cell Systems. Super nice collaboration with Michael Gutmann. |
| Jan 31, 2026 | Alperen’s work on deep mutational learning has been published in ACS Catalysis - great collaboration with Michael Nash’s team at U Basel. |
| Oct 6, 2025 | Yuxin’s paper on sequence optimization with active learning has been published in the Computational and Structural Biotechnology journal. |
| Oct 3, 2025 | Many congrats to Charlotte for passing her PhD viva! |
| Sep 28, 2025 | Our joint work with Paul Curnow in Bristol on membrane protein expression is out in preprint. |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Flux Cone Learning - our method to predict gene deletion phenotypes has been published in Nature Communications |
| Sep 22, 2025 | Achille’s paper on variational autoencoding of single cell time-series is out in preprint. |
| Sep 8, 2025 | A warm welcome to Stephen and Iva as new PhD students in our team! |