Professor Michael J. Garton

I began my career as a research chemist, moving into computational biology after sustaining a spinal cord injury in a climbing accident. My early work explored how proteins and DNA interact, including the discovery of a new general form of protein allostery. This led me into protein design, where I developed new methods and engineered a protein that mimics DNA sequences to target human transcription factors.

Today, my laboratory at the University of Toronto combines synthetic biology, generative AI and stem cell engineering to develop gene and cell therapies. We engineer viral vectors, design DNA sequences to control gene expression, and draw on protective mechanisms from nature to improve the resilience of human cells.

We also build stem-cell-derived cardiac, skeletal muscle, and neural tissues, with longer-term ambitions of 3D printing synbio augmented tissues for the treatment of disease and injury. Alongside this, I am increasingly interested in the engineering of conscious biological systems as a way to illuminate the biological foundations of subjective experience.