Tom Ellis

Tom Ellis

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Synthetic biology professor (Imperial College London); leads research on engineering genomes (e.g., synthetic yeast projects).

Rapid Lab Automation Needed to Scale Bio Testing
SocialApr 13, 2026

Rapid Lab Automation Needed to Scale Bio Testing

Interesting take on lab automation and serial scale vs parallel scale for data generation. Innovation in how we can rapidly Test more and more in the lab is badly needed as Design, Build and Learn capabilities in bio have exploded...

By Tom Ellis
Human Cells Lag Far Behind Yeast in Large DNA Integration
SocialApr 11, 2026

Human Cells Lag Far Behind Yeast in Large DNA Integration

“Ultra large” in this paper is 8 kb 😭 > shows how far we are from achieving the sort of SynBio we routinely do in yeast in primary human cells. 50 kb integrations are fairly routine in yeast

By Tom Ellis
Software Update Frenzy Mirrors AI Model Hype
SocialApr 8, 2026

Software Update Frenzy Mirrors AI Model Hype

Everyone suddenly being asked to update all their software and operating systems is going to be the ‘pizza orders near the pentagon’ for major new AI models isn’t it? https://t.co/aHFPp01TiH

By Tom Ellis
Are These Insects Polymer‑Preserved Fossils?
SocialApr 7, 2026

Are These Insects Polymer‑Preserved Fossils?

What's the odds that these were just normal sized insects that died in a swellable polymer? Like expansion microscopy but for fossils.

By Tom Ellis
Marc Guell’s SynBio Lab Featured in Journal’s 30‑Year Highlights
SocialApr 4, 2026

Marc Guell’s SynBio Lab Featured in Journal’s 30‑Year Highlights

Great to see the SynBio work of @marcguellc lab getting featured as one of the highlights of 30 years of the journal

By Tom Ellis
Prioritize Affinity, Specificity, Then Stability in Nanobody Design
SocialMar 19, 2026

Prioritize Affinity, Specificity, Then Stability in Nanobody Design

Okay here's a game - you're making nanobody therapeutics. AI can help you optimise them, but you need to prioritise order of feature importance. What is your order? Affinity Specificity Expressibility Clinical toxicity In vivo stability Purified stability Patentability Other?

By Tom Ellis
Vote for the Top Engineered Yeast Bioart
SocialMar 17, 2026

Vote for the Top Engineered Yeast Bioart

It’s time for the annual vote for best engineered yeast bioart from the @ImperialBioeng undergrad #SynBio students. Help us decide among these beautiful final 4 with your votes. 🗳️ ⬇️ https://t.co/2fo1XaGCmL

By Tom Ellis
Aging: Tired Ribosomes Pause, Causing Us to Slow
SocialMar 11, 2026

Aging: Tired Ribosomes Pause, Causing Us to Slow

If all of life is just ribosomes making more ribosomes, then maybe ageing is just old ribosomes getting tired and pausing, causing me to get tired and pause more often.

By Tom Ellis
Finding Calm at VISTEC's Global SynBio Symposium
SocialMar 10, 2026

Finding Calm at VISTEC's Global SynBio Symposium

Back at peaceful campus of VISTEC 🇹🇭 all this week for their SynBio/Biocatalysis symposium with speakers from around the world. Nice to escape the heat and hustle of Bangkok. https://t.co/s9ZRM3uyDu

By Tom Ellis
We All Ingest GMO Carbon From the Atmosphere
SocialFeb 25, 2026

We All Ingest GMO Carbon From the Atmosphere

Can anything really be “GMO-free” these days? The answer is definitely no. A significant % of all atmospheric CO2 was made by GMO crops in the last 30 yrs, and these molecules cycles back into all plants and into your...

By Tom Ellis
Future Oranges May Come with Built‑in Biodegradable Packaging
SocialJan 26, 2026

Future Oranges May Come with Built‑in Biodegradable Packaging

One day in the future our plant scientists will engineer oranges to have their own biodegradable packaging. Until then… https://t.co/IpqaTyuiJN

By Tom Ellis
Record-Breaking Audience of Bacterial Cellulose Experts at Chulalongkorn Seminar
SocialJan 21, 2026

Record-Breaking Audience of Bacterial Cellulose Experts at Chulalongkorn Seminar

Was great to give a seminar today to the Dept. Food Technology at @ChulalongkornU University, Bangkok 🇹🇭 I present regulary on our lab's work on engineered materials based on bacterial cellulose (BC), but I think today breaks the record for the...

By Tom Ellis
New Engineered Living Materials Advance Synthetic Biology
SocialJan 14, 2026

New Engineered Living Materials Advance Synthetic Biology

It’s not AI, JPM or anything to do with the Bay Area so probably no-one left on this site cares, but here is some new #synbio Engineered Living Materials work from our lab @ImperialBioeng and the Hub for Biotech in...

By Tom Ellis
Bacterial Phenotypes Stay Robust Despite Massive Genome Reshuffling
SocialJan 13, 2026

Bacterial Phenotypes Stay Robust Despite Massive Genome Reshuffling

Creating bacterial genomic diversity through large-scale reconfigurations reveals phenotype robustness to organizational genome change https://t.co/TiY6WNWjUm

By Tom Ellis