Quantitative Fundamentals of Molecular and Cellular Engineering by K. Dane Wittrup, Bruce Tidor, Benjamin J. Hackel, and Casim A. Sarkar

Abstract

For those of us who have been teaching molecular and cellular engineering, an important and significant new tool is now available. Wittrup et al. have written a very nice textbook that spans many of the important areas of this discipline and provides a substantial number of problems that should prove a significant aid to instructors. Cellular engineering, broadly defined, is the quantification and manipulation of cell behavior. The idea that one can design a system to behave as intended is endemic to engineering, and now that we have more knowledge about the parts of a cell and how they work, as well as sophisticated tools for genetic manipulation (such as mutation, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats [CRISPR] editing, transfections, and knock downs), we are at the point that we can manipulate cells to do what we wish. The goals are simple: inhibit cell function when it has gone awry, but more so, manipulate and enhance cell function when desired. A current successful example is chimeric antigen receptor T-lymphocyte therapy, but many other examples will be forthcoming, and we need to prepare quantitative scientists for the challenges of predicting, designing, and quantifying cell behavior.