Bernhard O. Palsson

Professor, Bioengineering

Reconstuction of genetic circuits and genome-scale models of complex cellular processes.

Professor Palsson's Genetic Circuits Research Group focuses on systemic analysis of the multigeneic processes that control cellular functions. Palsson's group views the coordinated action of multiple gene products as a network or a so-called genetic circuit. His current research efforts focus on genetic circuits involving metabolism and gene regulation. Metabolism is the "chemical engine" that drives the living process. Together, the enzymes used in metabolism produce all of the major constituents of the cell. Combining powerful systems science analysis techniques with the tools of bioinformatics, the group has developed methods that use the metabolic genotype of an organism to analyze, interpret, and predict its metabolic phenotype under particular conditions.Palsson has developed In silico models for the human red blood cell, E.coli, H.influenza, H.pylori, and S.cerevisae. Using these in silico strains he can study variations in the genotype and shifts in metabolic routing resulting from changing growth conditions, adaptive evolution or genetic deletions.

Capsule Bio:
Bernhard O. Palsson is also Adjunct Professor of Medicine at UCSD. Palsson served on the faculty at the University of Michigan from 1984 until he joined UCSD in 1995. He recieved his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Chemical Engineering in 1984. Palsson is the author of 20 U.S. patents. In 1988, he co-founded Aastrom Biosciences, where he served as the Vice President of Developmental Research for two years. He is also a founder of Oncosis, a company focused on the purging of occult tumor cells in autologous bone marrow transplants; Genomatica, a company focused on in silico biology; and the Iceland Genomics Corporation, a company focused on tracing the genetic basis for common human diseases in the Icelandic population.

Institute Affiliation:
Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering »