3 Questions for Dr. Alistair McCormick

In our next “3 Questions for” post, we interview Dr Alistair McCormick, the group leader of the Plant Molecular Physiology and Synthetic Biology Lab at the University of Edinburgh. He holds an MSc from the University of Stellenbosch and a PhD from the University of KwaZulu Natal, which he gained while at the South African Sugarcane Research Institute. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and John Innes Centre before becoming a group leader in Edinburgh in 2013. Alistair's research interests have centered around photosynthesis and how it can be manipulated to produce novel products or improve plant productivity. 



When and why did you move into the field of synthetic biology?

I was fortunate as my postgrad degrees had a good mix of different disciplines, namely plant physiology and molecular biology. I’ve since had the opportunity to work with academics and industrial researchers from a variety of disciplines, including engineers and chemists, which has really helped me to get over any fears and really enjoy working with different kinds of scientists. I was beginning to work on building pathways from microalgae into higher plants around 2010, when the paradigm of synthetic biology was gaining traction, so I was well positioned to move into the field.

In which areas do see the main challenges and opportunities for synthetic biology?

I think a key challenge is having the capacity to build interdisciplinary relationships. Much of synthetic biology requires collaborative work, and this can be challenging for researchers  and from a funding perspective. A second challenge (that we are getting better at over time) is the management and sharing of data, plasmids and strains, including setting standards for storage, curation and public access. Regarding opportunities, synthetic biology has many, but for me it is the proliferation of available high-throughput tools that have significantly increased our capacity to build and test novel pathways and modify biological organisms.        

What is the most important piece of advice you would give to an early career researcher in synthetic biology?

Synthetic biology requires a good mix of experience in different disciplines (e.g. molecular biology, bioinformatics and modelling). However, it’s very challenging to get this from an undergrad degree or even a PhD. You don’t have to be able to do everything yourself, developing good collaborations and working with other experts is key. Also, always think twice as long about your controls as your experimental samples!