As an ISCRM fellow, Jack will explore using synthetic biology tools to control stem cell differentiation in 3 dimensions. By genetically engineering stem cells to uptake and use new-to-nature amino acids, they can be made responsive to light and induced into a targeted cell fate. If successful, this approach can be used to create organoid co-cultures with diverse cell types to enable more advanced in vitro disease models or to build more complex tissue architectures in lab-grown tissue engineering constructs