James J. Collins, Ph.D.

photo of Dr. James J. Collins

Professor, Biomedical Engineering
William F. Warren Distinguished Professor
University Professor
The Collins Lab
Wyss Institute, Harvard University
Ph.D., Medical Engineering, University of Oxford
A.B., Physics, College of the Holy Cross
Email: jcollins@bu.edu
Phone: (617) 353-0390
Office: ERB 307

Research Interests

Synthetic biology; systems biology; antibiotics.

Current Research

Dr. Collins’ research group works in synthetic biology and systems biology, with a particular focus on network biology approaches to antibiotic action and bacterial defense mechanisms.

Selected Recent Publications

Brynildsen M, Winkler J, Spina C, MacDonald IC, Collins JJ “Potentiating antibacterial activity by predictably enhancing endogenous microbial ROS production” Nature Biotechnology. 31: 160-165. (2013)

Khalil A, Lu T, Bashor C, Ramirez C, Pyenson N, Joung J, Collins JJ “A synthetic biology framework for programming eukaryotic transcription functions” Cell. 150; 647-658. (2012)

Dwyer D, Camacho D, Kohanski M, Callura J, Collins JJ “Antibiotic-induced bacterial cell death exhibits physiological and biochemical hallmarks of apoptosis” Molecular Cell. 46; 561-572. (2012)

Foti J, Devadoss B, Winkler J, Collins JJ, Walker G “Oxidation of the guanine nucleotide pool underlies cell death by bactericidal antibiotics” Science. 336: 315-319. (2012)

Vega N, Allison K, Khalil A, Collins JJ “Signaling-mediated Bacterial Persister Formation” Nature Chemical Biology. 8: 431-433. (2012)

Allison K, Brynildsen M, Collins JJ “Metabolite-enabled Eradication of Bacterial Persisters by Aminoglycosides” Nature. 473: 216-220. (2011)

Lee H, Molla M, Cantor C, Collins JJ “Bacterial Charity Work Leads to Population-Wide Resistance” Nature. 467: 82-86. (2010)

Kohanski M, DePristo M, Collins JJ “Sublethal Antibiotic Treatment Leads to Multidrug Resistance via Radical-Induced Mutagenesis” Molecular Cell. 37: 311-320. (2010)

Friedland A, Lu T, Wang X, Shi D, Church G, Collins JJ “Synthetic Gene Networks That Count” Science. 324: 1199-1202. (2009)

Ellis T, Wang X, Collins JJ “Diversity-based, Model-guided Construction of Synthetic Gene Networks with Predicted Functions” Nature Biotechnology. 27 (5): 465-471. (2009)

Dwyer D, Kohanski M, Collins JJ “Networking Opportunities for Bacteria” Cell. 135: 1153-1156. (2008)

Kohanski M, Dwyer D, Wierzbowski J, Cottarel G, Collins JJ “Mistranslation of Membrane Proteins and Two-Component System Activation Trigger Antibiotic-Mediated Cell Death” Cell. 135: 679-690. (2008)

Kohanski MA, Dwyer DJ, Hayete B, Lawrence CA and Collins JJ “A Common Mechanism of Cellular Death Induced by Bactericidal Antibiotics” Cell. 130: 797-810. (2007)

Deans TL, Cantor CR and Collins JJ “A Tunable Genetic Switch Based on RNAi and Repressor Proteins for Regulating Gene Expression in Mammalian Cells” Cell. 130: 363-372. (2007)