Designing Living Controllers: From Theory to Therapy

Abstract: Control theory offers a unique lens for engineering biology, enabling the precise regulation of molecular processes in living systems. I will share how advances in our understanding of feedback and adaptation have led us to design and implement novel controllers across biological scales — from microbes to mammalian cells — and how these approaches are opening the door to entirely new classes of cell-based therapies. Along the way, I will highlight key theoretical insights, practical design strategies, and experimental results, culminating in our latest steps toward preclinical translation. 

Bio: Mustafa Khammash is Professor of Control Theory and Systems Biology at ETH Zurich’s Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering. Trained as an electrical engineer (B.S., Texas A&M, 1986; Ph.D., Rice University, 1990), he began his career at Iowa State University, where he founded the Dynamics and Control Program. He later joined the University of California, Santa Barbara, serving as Director of the Center for Control, Dynamical Systems, and Computation. In 2011, he moved his group to Switzerland to join ETH Zurich, where he has served as Vice Chair and Head of Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering.

Khammash’s research bridges control theory, systems biology, and synthetic biology, with a focus on dynamics, feedback, and stochasticity in living systems. His group develops mathematical theory, computational methods, and experimental platforms to understand and control biological networks. In recent years, they have pioneered Cybergenetics—the real-time control of living cells—advancing foundational theory, simulation tools, and experimental techniques with applications ranging from biotechnology to cell-based therapies.

He is a Fellow of the IEEE, the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association. A recipient of three Advanced Grants—two from the European Research Council (ERC) and one Swiss National Science Foundation Advanced Grant—Khammash has made seminal contributions spanning robust control theory, the stochastic analysis of biological systems, and the design of synthetic feedback controllers. His recent work is pushing synthetic biology toward clinical translation, including engineered cells that sense and treat diseases.

Host: Filippo Menolascina