Ailurus Biotechnology is a synthetic biology research and deployment company, building a platform where programming biology is as easy as using computers, i.e. biocomputers.

Ailurus designs specialized biocomputing systems that can provide better services than traditional labor-intensive, equipment-based procedures, based on Ailurus' proprietary technologies and resources on AI models, synthetic cells, and devices. For instance, Ailurus' ultra-high-throughput protein quantification system has already helped hundreds of customers to characterize millions of strains. Currently, Ailurus mainly focuses on protein engineering and production, while also providing customized services for downstream biodevelopers.

In the long term, Ailurus is establishing the architecture and language of programming biology. Such unified framework would accelerate R&D in biotechnology as fast and efficient as in the IT industry, and enable countless biological solutions for diverse demands, including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, industrial biotech, chemistry, agriculture, and many others. By making biology truly programmable, Ailurus' mission is to ensure biology, as a "general-purposed technology", by which we mean an approach to creating (almost) any conceivable system with living things, can be mastered by human beings, and benefits our planet.

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R&D Program Description

Overview
Our R&D internship program provides early-career researchers with a unique opportunity to tackle fundamental biological questions in synthetic biology. As a participant, you'll lead and advance innovative research projects for 6 months alongside our teams. We're eager to recruit talented early-stage researchers, especially ones before their PhDs. After the internship, we'll continue to support researchers and their projects.

Open Research Areas

• Emergence of eukaryotic structures from prokaryotic structures

Understanding the evolution of eukaryotic cellular complexity is one of the grand challenges of modern biology. Despite the success of symbiogenesis theory on the appearance of eukaryotic organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts, how the functional architecture of eukaryotic cells emerged from prokaryotic ancestors remains unclear. Recent theoretical and experimental work revealed that certain physical characteristics contribute to the self-formation of featured patterns in eukaryotes, indicating organelles and chromosomes may spontaneously arise from fundamental interaction, which gives us a powerful insight. We aim to apply a bottom-up strategy and high-throughput methods to design and reconstruct eukaryotic-like components, and uncover the generative rules underlying the emergence of complexities.

• Elementary functions of computation based on biological systems

Signal computing processes in vivo, empowered by biochemical reaction systems, enable cellular "intelligence" for responsiveness, development, and a variety of complex behaviors. Compared with silicon-based circuits, the interaction of biomolecules exhibits a promising future of biocomputing with lower energy consumption and higher concurrency. Current biocomputing studies, mainly based on chain displacement reactions or chemical reaction networks, are still on finite state machines rather than ready-to-use biocomputers. Although Boolean logics and Hill equations are widely used in deciphering natural systems, a universal framework to program computation via biological systems is still generally lacking. What kinds of biomolecular systems can perform logarithms, derivatives, convolutions, and even deep neural networks as we expect? Here we aim to develop such a framework theoretically and practically, starting from the implementation of elementary math functions, and then extending to more complex mathematical formulas.

What we offer

• Lead your own projects that will turn into scientific publications or a product.

• Access to our cutting-edge lab facilities for synthetic biology.

• Leverage our internal technologies in advance for validations.

• Get guidance to define scope and technical approach.

• Join our networks of synthetic biology communities and build connections.

Project Outcomes

Upon program completion, participants will present their achievements in either:

• Research articles, patents, or

• the release of new products

Outstanding interns may be offered a position in our R&D department to further contribute to research and product innovation.

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To apply, please submit the following materials:

• Resume

• Personal statement introducing your research interests, experience, and plans

Please send your materials to hr@ailurus.bio. We will respond to your application within 3-5 business days.

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