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Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary area of research that seeks to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature.
It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad range of methodologies from various disciplines, such as
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
,
biomaterials
A biomaterial is a substance that has been engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose, either a therapeutic (treat, augment, repair, or replace a tissue function of the body) or a diagnostic one. As a science, biomateria ...
,
material science/engineering,
genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
,
molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...
,
molecular engineering
Molecular engineering is an emerging field of study concerned with the design and testing of molecular properties, behavior and interactions in order to assemble better materials, systems, and processes for specific functions. This approach, in whi ...
,
systems biology
Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...
,
membrane science,
biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...
,
chemical and biological engineering,
electrical and computer engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
,
control engineering
Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...
and
evolutionary biology
Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life fo ...
.
Due to more powerful
genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
capabilities and decreased DNA synthesis and
sequencing costs, the field of synthetic biology is rapidly growing. In 2016, more than 350 companies across 40 countries were actively engaged in synthetic biology applications; all these companies had an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion in the global market.
Definition
Synthetic biology currently has no generally accepted definition. Here are a few examples:
* "the use of a mixture of physical engineering and genetic engineering to create new (and, therefore, synthetic) life forms"
* "an emerging field of research that aims to combine the knowledge and methods of biology, engineering and related disciplines in the design of chemically synthesized DNA to create organisms with novel or enhanced characteristics and traits"
* "designing and constructing
biological modules,
biological systems
A biological system is a complex network which connects several biologically relevant entities. Biological organization spans several scales and are determined based different structures depending on what the system is. Examples of biological syst ...
, and
biological machine
A molecular machine, nanite, or nanomachine is a molecular component that produces quasi-mechanical movements (output) in response to specific stimuli (input). In cellular biology, macromolecular machines frequently perform tasks essential for l ...
s or, re-design of existing biological systems for useful purposes"
* “applying the engineering paradigm of systems design to biological systems in order to produce predictable and robust systems with novel functionalities that do not exist in nature” (The European Commission, 2005) This can include the possibility of a
molecular assembler
A molecular assembler, as defined by K. Eric Drexler, is a "proposed device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision". A molecular assembler is a kind of molecular machine. Some biological molecul ...
, based upon biomolecular systems such as the
ribosome
Ribosomes ( ) are macromolecular machines, found within all cells, that perform biological protein synthesis (mRNA translation). Ribosomes link amino acids together in the order specified by the codons of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules to ...
Synthetic biology has traditionally been divided into two different approaches: top down and bottom up.
# The
top down approach involves using metabolic and genetic engineering techniques to impart new functions to living cells.
# The
bottom up approach involves creating new biological systems ''in vitro'' by bringing together 'non-living' biomolecular components, often with the aim of constructing an
artificial cell
An artificial cell, synthetic cell or minimal cell is an engineered particle that mimics one or many functions of a biological cell. Often, artificial cells are biological or polymeric membranes which enclose biologically active materials. As such ...
.
Biological systems are thus assembled module-by-module.
Cell-free protein expression systems are often employed, as are membrane-based molecular machinery. There are increasing efforts to bridge the divide between these approaches by forming hybrid living/synthetic cells, and engineering communication between living and synthetic cell populations.
History
1910: First identifiable use of the term "synthetic biology" in
Stéphane Leduc
Stéphane Leduc (1 November 1853 – 8 March 1939) was a French biologist who sought to contribute to understanding of the chemical and physics, physical mechanisms of life. He was a scientist in the fledgling field of synthetic biology, particula ...
's publication ''Théorie physico-chimique de la vie et générations spontanées''. He also noted this term in another publication, ''La Biologie Synthétique'' in 1912.
1961: Jacob and Monod postulate cellular regulation by molecular networks from their study of the ''lac'' operon in ''E. coli'' and envisioned the ability to assemble new systems from molecular components.
1973: First molecular cloning and amplification of DNA in a plasmid is published in ''P.N.A.S.'' by Cohen, Boyer ''et al.'' constituting the dawn of synthetic biology.
1978:
Arber,
Nathans and
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
win the
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...
for the discovery of
restriction enzyme
A restriction enzyme, restriction endonuclease, REase, ENase or'' restrictase '' is an enzyme that cleaves DNA into fragments at or near specific recognition sites within molecules known as restriction sites. Restriction enzymes are one class o ...
s, leading Szybalski to offer an editorial comment in the journal ''
Gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
'':
The work on restriction nucleases not only permits us easily to construct recombinant DNA molecules and to analyze individual genes, but also has led us into the new era of synthetic biology where not only existing genes are described and analyzed but also new gene arrangements can be constructed and evaluated.
1988: First DNA amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using a thermostable DNA polymerase is published in ''Science'' by Mullis ''et al.'' This obviated adding new DNA polymerase after each PCR cycle, thus greatly simplifying DNA mutagenesis and assembly.
2000: Two papers in
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
report
synthetic biological circuits
Synthetic biological circuits are an application of synthetic biology where biological parts inside a cell are designed to perform logical functions mimicking those observed in electronic circuits. The applications range from simply inducing prod ...
, a genetic toggle switch and a biological clock, by combining genes within
''E. coli'' cells.
2003: The most widely used standardized DNA parts,
BioBrick
BioBrick parts are DNA sequences which conform to a restriction-enzyme assembly standard. These building blocks are used to design and assemble larger synthetic biological circuits from individual parts and combinations of parts with defined funct ...
plasmids, are invented by
Tom Knight.
These parts will become central to the international Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) founded at MIT in the following year.
![Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) standard visual symbols](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Synthetic_Biology_Open_Language_%28SBOL%29_standard_visual_symbols.png)
2003: Researchers engineer an artemisinin precursor pathway in ''E. coli''.
2004: First international conference for synthetic biology, Synthetic Biology 1.0 (SB1.0) is held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
2005: Researchers develop a light-sensing circuit in ''E. coli''. Another group designs circuits capable of multicellular pattern formation.
2006: Researchers engineer a synthetic circuit that promotes bacterial invasion of tumour cells.
2010: Researchers publish in ''Science'' the first synthetic bacterial genome, called ''M. mycoides'' JCVI-syn1.0.
The genome is made from chemically-synthesized DNA using yeast recombination.
2011: Functional synthetic chromosome arms are engineered in yeast.
2012: Charpentier and Doudna labs publish in ''Science'' the programming of CRISPR-Cas9 bacterial immunity for targeting DNA cleavage. This technology greatly simplified and expanded eukaryotic gene editing.
2019: Scientists at
ETH Zurich
(colloquially)
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, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, ac ...
report the creation of the first
bacterial genome
Bacterial genomes are generally smaller and less variant in size among species when compared with genomes of eukaryotes. Bacterial genomes can range in size anywhere from about 130 kbp to over 14 Mbp. A study that included, but was not limited to ...
, named ''
Caulobacter ethensis-2.0'', made entirely by a computer, although a related
viable form of ''C. ethensis-2.0'' does not yet exist.
2019: Researchers report the production of a new
synthetic (possibly
artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
) form of
viable life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
, a variant of the
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
''
Escherichia coli
''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...
'', by reducing the natural number of 64
codon
The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material ( DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome, which links ...
s in the bacterial
genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...
to 59 codons instead, in order to encode 20
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
s.
2020: Scientist created the first
xenobot
Xenobots, named after the African clawed frog (''Xenopus laevis''), are synthetic lifeforms that are designed by computers to perform some desired function and built by combining together different biological tissues. Whether xenobots are robots ...
, programmable synthetic organism derived from frog cells and designed by AI.
2021: Scientist reported that
xenobot
Xenobots, named after the African clawed frog (''Xenopus laevis''), are synthetic lifeforms that are designed by computers to perform some desired function and built by combining together different biological tissues. Whether xenobots are robots ...
s are able to self-replicate by gathering loose cells in the environment and then forming new xenobot.
Perspectives
Engineers view biology as a ''technology'' (in other words, a given system includes ''
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
'' or its ''
biological engineering
Biological engineering or
bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...
'') Synthetic biology includes the broad redefinition and expansion of biotechnology, with the ultimate goals of being able to design and build engineered live biological systems that process information, manipulate chemicals, fabricate materials and structures, produce energy, provide food, and maintain and enhance human health, as well as advance fundamental knowledge of biological systems (see
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...
) and our environment.
Studies in synthetic biology can be subdivided into broad classifications according to the approach they take to the problem at hand: standardization of biological parts, biomolecular engineering, genome engineering, metabolic engineering.
Biomolecular engineering includes approaches that aim to create a toolkit of functional units that can be introduced to present new technological functions in living cells.
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
includes approaches to construct synthetic chromosomes or minimal organisms like
Mycoplasma laboratorium
''Mycoplasma laboratorium'' or Synthia refers to a synthetic strain of bacterium. The project to build the new bacterium has evolved since its inception. Initially the goal was to identify a minimal set of genes that are required to sustain lif ...
.
Biomolecular design refers to the general idea of de novo design and additive combination of biomolecular components. Each of these approaches share a similar task: to develop a more synthetic entity at a higher level of complexity by inventively manipulating a simpler part at the preceding level. Optimizing these exogenous pathways in unnatural systems takes iterative fine tuning of the individual biomolecular components to select for the highest concentrations of the desired product.
On the other hand, "re-writers" are synthetic biologists interested in testing the irreducibility of biological systems. Due to the complexity of natural biological systems, it would be simpler to rebuild the natural systems of interest from the ground up; In order to provide engineered surrogates that are easier to comprehend, control and manipulate. Re-writers draw inspiration from
refactoring
In computer programming and software design, code refactoring is the process of restructuring existing computer code—changing the '' factoring''—without changing its external behavior. Refactoring is intended to improve the design, structure ...
, a process sometimes used to improve computer software.
Enabling technologies
Several novel enabling technologies were critical to the success of synthetic biology. Concepts include
standardization
Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...
of biological parts and hierarchical abstraction to permit using those parts in synthetic systems. Basic technologies include reading and writing DNA (sequencing and fabrication). Measurements under multiple conditions are needed for accurate modeling and
computer-aided design
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
(CAD).
DNA and gene synthesis
Driven by dramatic decreases in costs of
oligonucleotide
Oligonucleotides are short DNA or RNA molecules, oligomers, that have a wide range of applications in genetic testing, research, and forensics. Commonly made in the laboratory by solid-phase chemical synthesis, these small bits of nucleic acids c ...
("oligos") synthesis and the advent of PCR, the sizes of DNA constructions from oligos have increased to the genomic level. In 2000, researchers reported synthesis of the 9.6 kbp (kilo bp)
Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...
virus genome from chemically synthesized 60 to 80-mers. In 2002 researchers at
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...
succeeded in synthesizing the 7741 bp
poliovirus
A poliovirus, the causative agent of polio (also known as poliomyelitis), is a serotype of the species ''Enterovirus C'', in the family of ''Picornaviridae''. There are three poliovirus serotypes: types 1, 2, and 3.
Poliovirus is composed of an ...
genome from its published sequence, producing the second synthetic genome, spanning two years. In 2003 the 5386 bp genome of the
bacteriophage
A bacteriophage (), also known informally as a ''phage'' (), is a duplodnaviria virus that infects and replicates within bacteria and archaea. The term was derived from "bacteria" and the Greek φαγεῖν ('), meaning "to devour". Bacteri ...
Phi X 174
The phi X 174 (or ΦX174) bacteriophage is a single-stranded DNA ( ssDNA) virus that infects ''Escherichia coli'', and the first DNA-based genome to be sequenced. This work was completed by Fred Sanger and his team in 1977. In 1962, Walter Fie ...
was assembled in about two weeks.
In 2006, the same team, at the
J. Craig Venter Institute, constructed and patented a
synthetic genome
Artificial gene synthesis, or simply gene synthesis, refers to a group of methods that are used in synthetic biology to construct and assemble genes from nucleotides '' de novo''. Unlike DNA synthesis in living cells, artificial gene synthesis do ...
of a novel minimal bacterium, ''
Mycoplasma laboratorium
''Mycoplasma laboratorium'' or Synthia refers to a synthetic strain of bacterium. The project to build the new bacterium has evolved since its inception. Initially the goal was to identify a minimal set of genes that are required to sustain lif ...
'' and were working on getting it functioning in a living cell.
In 2007 it was reported that several companies were offering
synthesis of genetic sequences up to 2000 base pairs (bp) long, for a price of about $1 per bp and a turnaround time of less than two weeks.
Oligonucleotide
Oligonucleotides are short DNA or RNA molecules, oligomers, that have a wide range of applications in genetic testing, research, and forensics. Commonly made in the laboratory by solid-phase chemical synthesis, these small bits of nucleic acids c ...
s harvested from a photolithographic- or inkjet-manufactured
DNA chip
A DNA microarray (also commonly known as DNA chip or biochip) is a collection of microscopic DNA spots attached to a solid surface. Scientists use DNA microarrays to measure the expression levels of large numbers of genes simultaneously or to ...
combined with PCR and DNA mismatch error-correction allows inexpensive large-scale changes of
codons
The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material ( DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome, which links ...
in genetic systems to improve
gene expression
Gene expression is the process by which information from a gene is used in the synthesis of a functional gene product that enables it to produce end products, protein or non-coding RNA, and ultimately affect a phenotype, as the final effect. The ...
or incorporate novel amino-acids (see
George M. Church
George McDonald Church (born August 28, 1954) is an American geneticist, molecular engineer, chemist, and a serial entrepreneur who is widely regarded as the "Founding Father of Genomics", and a pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic bio ...
's and Anthony Forster's synthetic cell projects.) This favors a synthesis-from-scratch approach.
Additionally, the
CRISPR/Cas system has emerged as a promising technique for gene editing. It was described as "the most important innovation in the synthetic biology space in nearly 30 years".
While other methods take months or years to edit gene sequences, CRISPR speeds that time up to weeks.
Due to its ease of use and accessibility, however, it has raised ethical concerns, especially surrounding its use in
biohacking.
Sequencing
DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...
determines the order of
nucleotide
Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecules wi ...
bases in a DNA molecule. Synthetic biologists use DNA sequencing in their work in several ways. First, large-scale genome sequencing efforts continue to provide information on naturally occurring organisms. This information provides a rich substrate from which synthetic biologists can construct parts and devices. Second, sequencing can verify that the fabricated system is as intended. Third, fast, cheap, and reliable sequencing can facilitate rapid detection and identification of synthetic systems and organisms.
Modularity
The most used
standardized DNA parts are
BioBrick
BioBrick parts are DNA sequences which conform to a restriction-enzyme assembly standard. These building blocks are used to design and assemble larger synthetic biological circuits from individual parts and combinations of parts with defined funct ...
plasmids, invented by
Tom Knight in 2003.
Biobricks are stored at the
Registry of Standard Biological Parts The Registry of Standard Biological Parts is a collection of genetic parts that are used in the assembly of systems and devices in synthetic biology. The registry was founded in 2003 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The registry, as of ...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The BioBrick standard has been used by tens of thousands of students worldwide in the
international Genetically Engineered Machine
The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition is a worldwide synthetic biology competition that was initially aimed at undergraduate university students, but has since expanded to include divisions for high school students ...
(iGEM) competition. BioBrick Assembly Standard 10 promotes modularity by allowing BioBrick coding sequences to be spliced out and exchanged using restriction enzymes EcoRI or XbaI (BioBrick prefix) and SpeI and PstI (BioBrick suffix).
Sequence overlap between two genetic elements (
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
s or
coding sequences), called
overlapping gene
An overlapping gene (or OLG) is a gene whose expressible Nucleic acid sequence, nucleotide sequence partially overlaps with the expressible nucleotide sequence of another gene. In this way, a nucleotide sequence may make a contribution to the func ...
s, can prevent their individual manipulation.
To increase genome modularity, the practice of genome refactoring or improving "the internal structure of an existing system for future use, while simultaneously maintaining external system function"
has been adopted across synthetic biology disciplines.
Some notable examples of refactoring including the nitrogen fixation cluster and type III secretion system along with bacteriophages T7
and ΦX174.
While DNA is most important for information storage, a large fraction of the cell's activities are carried out by proteins. Tools can send proteins to specific regions of the cell and to link different proteins together. The interaction strength between protein partners should be tunable between a lifetime of seconds (desirable for dynamic signaling events) up to an irreversible interaction (desirable for device stability or resilient to harsh conditions). Interactions such as
coiled coil
A coiled coil is a structural motif in proteins in which 2–7
alpha-helices are coiled together like the strands of a rope. (Dimers and trimers are the most common types.) Many coiled coil-type proteins are involved in important biological fun ...
s,
SH3 domain
The SRC Homology 3 Domain (or SH3 domain) is a small protein domain of about 60 amino acid residues. Initially, SH3 was described as a conserved sequence in the viral adaptor protein v-Crk. This domain is also present in the molecules of phos ...
-peptide binding or
SpyTag/SpyCatcher offer such control. In addition it is necessary to regulate protein-protein interactions in cells, such as with light (using
light-oxygen-voltage-sensing domain A Light-oxygen-voltage-sensing domain (LOV domain) is a protein sensor used by a large variety of higher plants, microalgae, fungi and bacteria to sense environmental conditions. In higher plants, they are used to control phototropism, chloroplast r ...
s) or cell-permeable small molecules by
chemically induced dimerization Chemically Induced Dimerization (CID) is a biological mechanism in which two proteins bind only in the presence of a certain small molecule, enzyme or other dimerizing agent. Genetically engineered CID systems are used in biological research to cont ...
.
In a living cell, molecular motifs are embedded in a bigger network with upstream and downstream components. These components may alter the signaling capability of the modeling module. In the case of ultrasensitive modules, the sensitivity contribution of a module can differ from the sensitivity that the module sustains in isolation.
Modeling
Models inform the design of engineered biological systems by better predicting system behavior prior to fabrication. Synthetic biology benefits from better models of how biological molecules bind substrates and catalyze reactions, how DNA encodes the information needed to specify the cell and how multi-component integrated systems behave. Multiscale models of gene regulatory networks focus on synthetic biology applications. Simulations can model all biomolecular interactions in
transcription
Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including:
Genetics
* Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...
,
translation
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
, regulation and induction of gene regulatory networks.
Microfluidics
Microfluidics
Microfluidics refers to the behavior, precise control, and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small scale (typically sub-millimeter) at which surface forces dominate volumetric forces. It is a multidisciplinary field tha ...
, in particular droplet microfluidics, is an emerging tool used to construct new components, and to analyze and characterize them. It is widely employed in screening assays.
Synthetic transcription factors
Studies have considered the components of the
DNA transcription
Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. The segments of DNA transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins are said to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are copied into RNA molecules called ...
mechanism. One desire of scientists creating
synthetic biological circuit
Synthetic biological circuits are an application of synthetic biology where biological parts inside a cell are designed to perform logical functions mimicking those observed in electronic circuits. The applications range from simply inducing prod ...
s is to be able to control the transcription of synthetic DNA in unicellular organisms (
prokaryote
A prokaryote () is a single-celled organism that lacks a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. The word ''prokaryote'' comes from the Greek πρό (, 'before') and κάρυον (, 'nut' or 'kernel').Campbell, N. "Biology:Concepts & Connec ...
s) and in multicellular organisms (
eukaryote
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...
s). One study tested the adjustability of synthetic
transcription factor
In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The fu ...
s (sTFs) in areas of transcription output and cooperative ability among multiple transcription factor complexes.
Researchers were able to mutate functional regions called
zinc finger
A zinc finger is a small protein structural motif that is characterized by the coordination of one or more zinc ions (Zn2+) in order to stabilize the fold. It was originally coined to describe the finger-like appearance of a hypothesized struct ...
s, the DNA specific component of sTFs, to decrease their affinity for specific operator DNA sequence sites, and thus decrease the associated site-specific activity of the sTF (usually transcriptional regulation). They further used the zinc fingers as components of complex-forming sTFs, which are the
eukaryotic translation
Eukaryotic translation is the biological process by which messenger RNA is translated into proteins in eukaryotes. It consists of four phases: gene translation, elongation, termination, and recapping.
Initiation
Translation initiation is the pr ...
mechanisms.
Applications
Biosensors
A
biosensor
A biosensor is an analytical device, used for the detection of a chemical substance, that combines a biological component with a physicochemical detector.
The ''sensitive biological element'', e.g. tissue, microorganisms, organelles, cell recep ...
refers to an engineered organism, usually a bacterium, that is capable of reporting some ambient phenomenon such as the presence of heavy metals or toxins. One such system is the
Lux operon of ''
Aliivibrio fischeri
''Aliivibrio fischeri'' (also called ''Vibrio fischeri'') is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium found globally in marine environments. This species has bioluminescent properties, and is found predominantly in symbiosis with various marine an ...
,'' which codes for the enzyme that is the source of bacterial
bioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...
, and can be placed after a respondent
promoter to express the luminescence genes in response to a specific environmental stimulus. One such sensor created, consisted of a
bioluminescent bacteria
Bioluminescent bacteria are Bioluminescence, light-producing bacteria that are predominantly present in sea water, marine sediments, the surface of decomposing fish and in the gut of marine animals. While not as common, bacterial bioluminescence is ...
l coating on a photosensitive
computer chip
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
to detect certain
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
pollutant
A pollutant or novel entity is a substance or energy introduced into the environment that has undesired effects, or adversely affects the usefulness of a resource. These can be both naturally forming (i.e. minerals or extracted compounds like oi ...
s. When the bacteria sense the pollutant, they luminesce. Another example of a similar mechanism is the detection of landmines by an engineered ''E.coli'' reporter strain capable of detecting
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
and its main degradation product
DNT, and consequently producing a green fluorescent protein (
GFP GFP may refer to:
Organisations
* Gaelic Football Provence, a French Gaelic Athletic Association club
* Geheime Feldpolizei, the German secret military police during the Second World War
* French Group for the Study of Polymers and their Applicat ...
).
Modified organisms can sense environmental signals and send output signals that can be detected and serve diagnostic purposes. Microbe cohorts have been used.
Biosensors could also be used to detect pathogenic signatures – such as of
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
– and can be
wearable.
Food and drink
However, not all synthetic nutrition products are animal food products – for instance, as of 2021 there are also products of
synthetic coffee that are reported to be close to commercialization.
Similar fields of research and production based on synthetic biology that can be used for the production of food and drink are:
* Genetically engineered
microbial food cultures (e.g. for solar-energy-based protein powder)
* Cell-free artificial synthesis (e.g. synthetic
starch
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...
; see
Biobased economy#Agriculture)
Materials
Photosynthetic microbial cells have been used as a step to synthetic production of
spider silk
Spider silk is a protein fibre spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make Spider web, webs or other structures, which function as sticky nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring, or to wrap up prey. ...
.
Biological computers
A
biological computer
Biological computers use biologically derived molecules — such as DNA and/or proteins — to perform digital or real computations.
The development of biocomputers has been made possible by the expanding new science of nanobiotechnology. The t ...
refers to an engineered biological system that can perform computer-like operations, which is a dominant paradigm in synthetic biology. Researchers built and characterized a variety of
logic gate
A logic gate is an idealized or physical device implementing a Boolean function, a logical operation performed on one or more binary inputs that produces a single binary output. Depending on the context, the term may refer to an ideal logic gate, ...
s in a number of organisms, and demonstrated both analog and digital computation in living cells. They demonstrated that bacteria can be engineered to perform both analog and/or digital computation. In human cells research demonstrated a universal logic evaluator that operates in mammalian cells in 2007. Subsequently, researchers utilized this paradigm to demonstrate a proof-of-concept therapy that uses biological digital computation to detect and kill human cancer cells in 2011. Another group of researchers demonstrated in 2016 that principles of
computer engineering
Computer engineering (CoE or CpE) is a branch of electrical engineering and computer science that integrates several fields of computer science and electronic engineering required to develop computer hardware and software. Computer engineers ...
, can be used to automate digital circuit design in bacterial cells. In 2017, researchers demonstrated the 'Boolean logic and arithmetic through DNA excision' (BLADE) system to engineer digital computation in human cells. In 2019, researchers implemented a
perceptron
In machine learning, the perceptron (or McCulloch-Pitts neuron) is an algorithm for supervised learning of binary classifiers. A binary classifier is a function which can decide whether or not an input, represented by a vector of numbers, belon ...
in biological systems opening the way for
machine learning
Machine learning (ML) is a field of inquiry devoted to understanding and building methods that 'learn', that is, methods that leverage data to improve performance on some set of tasks. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence.
Machine ...
in these systems.
Cell transformation
Cells use interacting genes and proteins, which are called gene circuits, to implement diverse function, such as responding to environmental signals, decision making and communication. Three key components are involved: DNA, RNA and Synthetic biologist designed gene circuits that can control gene expression from several levels including transcriptional, post-transcriptional and translational levels.
Traditional metabolic engineering has been bolstered by the introduction of combinations of foreign genes and optimization by directed evolution. This includes engineering ''E. coli'' and
yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...
for commercial production of a precursor of the
antimalarial drug
Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young c ...
,
Artemisinin
Artemisinin () and its semisynthetic derivatives are a group of drugs used in the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum''. It was discovered in 1972 by Tu Youyou, who shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her dis ...
.
Entire organisms have yet to be created from scratch, although living cells can be
transformed with new DNA. Several ways allow constructing synthetic DNA components and even entire
synthetic genomes, but once the desired genetic code is obtained, it is integrated into a living cell that is expected to manifest the desired new capabilities or
phenotype
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...
s while growing and thriving. Cell transformation is used to create
biological circuits, which can be manipulated to yield desired outputs.
By integrating synthetic biology with
materials science, it would be possible to use cells as microscopic molecular foundries to produce materials with properties whose properties were genetically encoded. Re-engineering has produced Curli fibers, the
amyloid
Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a Fibril, fibrillar morphology of 7–13 Nanometer, nm in diameter, a beta sheet (β-sheet) Secondary structure of proteins, secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be Staining, ...
component of extracellular material of
biofilms
A biofilm comprises any syntrophic consortium of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy extracellular matrix that is composed of extracellular ...
, as a platform for programmable
nanomaterial
*
Nanomaterials describe, in principle, materials of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale).
Nanomaterials research takes a materials science-based approach to nan ...
. These nanofibers were genetically constructed for specific functions, including adhesion to substrates, nanoparticle templating and protein immobilization.
Designed proteins
![Top7](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Top7.png)
Natural proteins can be engineered, for example, by
directed evolution
Directed evolution (DE) is a method used in protein engineering that mimics the process of natural selection to steer proteins or nucleic acids toward a user-defined goal. It consists of subjecting a gene to iterative rounds of mutagenesis (cre ...
, novel protein structures that match or improve on the functionality of existing proteins can be produced. One group generated a
helix bundle A helix bundle is a small protein fold composed of several alpha helices that are usually nearly parallel or antiparallel to each other.
Three-helix bundles
Three-helix bundles are among the smallest and fastest known cooperatively folding struct ...
that was capable of binding
oxygen
Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...
with similar properties as
hemoglobin
Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocyte ...
, yet did not bind
carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
. A similar protein structure was generated to support a variety of
oxidoreductase
In biochemistry, an oxidoreductase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of electrons from one molecule, the reductant, also called the electron donor, to another, the oxidant, also called the electron acceptor. This group of enzymes usually ut ...
activities while another formed a structurally and sequentially novel
ATPase
ATPases (, Adenosine 5'-TriPhosphatase, adenylpyrophosphatase, ATP monophosphatase, triphosphatase, SV40 T-antigen, ATP hydrolase, complex V (mitochondrial electron transport), (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase, HCO3−-ATPase, adenosine triphosphatase) are ...
.
Another group generated a family of G-protein coupled receptors that could be activated by the inert small molecule
clozapine N-oxide but insensitive to the native
ligand
In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule (functional group) that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's electr ...
,
acetylcholine
Acetylcholine (ACh) is an organic chemical that functions in the brain and body of many types of animals (including humans) as a neurotransmitter. Its name is derived from its chemical structure: it is an ester of acetic acid and choline. Part ...
; these receptors are known as
DREADDs. Novel functionalities or protein specificity can also be engineered using computational approaches. One study was able to use two different computational methods – a bioinformatics and molecular modeling method to mine sequence databases, and a computational enzyme design method to reprogram enzyme specificity. Both methods resulted in designed enzymes with greater than 100 fold specificity for production of longer chain alcohols from sugar.
Another common investigation is
expansion
Expansion may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine
* ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004
* ''Expansions'' (McCoy Tyner album), 1970
* ''Expansio ...
of the natural set of 20
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
s. Excluding
stop codon
In molecular biology (specifically protein biosynthesis), a stop codon (or termination codon) is a codon (nucleotide triplet within messenger RNA) that signals the termination of the translation process of the current protein. Most codons in me ...
s, 61
codons
The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material ( DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome, which links ...
have been identified, but only 20 amino acids are coded generally in all organisms. Certain codons are engineered to code for alternative amino acids including: nonstandard amino acids such as O-methyl
tyrosine
-Tyrosine or tyrosine (symbol Tyr or Y) or 4-hydroxyphenylalanine is one of the 20 standard amino acids that are used by cells to synthesize proteins. It is a non-essential amino acid with a polar side group. The word "tyrosine" is from the Gr ...
; or exogenous amino acids such as 4-fluorophenylalanine. Typically, these projects make use of re-coded
nonsense suppressor A nonsense suppressor is a factor which can inhibit the effect of the nonsense mutation. Nonsense suppressors can be generally divided into two classes: a) a mutated tRNA which can bind with a termination codon on mRNA; b) a mutation on ribosomes de ...
tRNA
Transfer RNA (abbreviated tRNA and formerly referred to as sRNA, for soluble RNA) is an adaptor molecule composed of RNA, typically 76 to 90 nucleotides in length (in eukaryotes), that serves as the physical link between the mRNA and the amino ac ...
-
Aminoacyl tRNA synthetase
An aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS or ARS), also called tRNA-ligase, is an enzyme that attaches the appropriate amino acid onto its corresponding tRNA. It does so by catalyzing the transesterification of a specific cognate amino acid or its pre ...
pairs from other organisms, though in most cases substantial engineering is required.
Other researchers investigated protein structure and function by reducing the normal set of 20 amino acids. Limited protein sequence libraries are made by generating proteins where groups of amino acids may be replaced by a single amino acid. For instance, several
non-polar
In chemistry, polarity is a separation of electric charge leading to a molecule or its chemical groups having an electric dipole moment, with a negatively charged end and a positively charged end.
Polar molecules must contain one or more pola ...
amino acids within a protein can all be replaced with a single non-polar amino acid. One project demonstrated that an engineered version of
Chorismate mutase still had catalytic activity when only 9 amino acids were used.
Researchers and companies practice synthetic biology to synthesize
industrial enzymes Industrial enzymes are enzymes that are commercially used in a variety of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemical production, biofuels, food & beverage, and consumer products. Due to advancements in recent years, biocatalysis through isolat ...
with high activity, optimal yields and effectiveness. These synthesized enzymes aim to improve products such as detergents and lactose-free dairy products, as well as make them more cost effective. The improvements of metabolic engineering by synthetic biology is an example of a biotechnological technique utilized in industry to discover pharmaceuticals and fermentive chemicals. Synthetic biology may investigate modular pathway systems in biochemical production and increase yields of metabolic production. Artificial enzymatic activity and subsequent effects on metabolic reaction rates and yields may develop "efficient new strategies for improving cellular properties ... for industrially important biochemical production".
Designed nucleic acid systems
Scientists can encode digital information onto a single strand of
synthetic DNA. In 2012,
George M. Church
George McDonald Church (born August 28, 1954) is an American geneticist, molecular engineer, chemist, and a serial entrepreneur who is widely regarded as the "Founding Father of Genomics", and a pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic bio ...
encoded one of his books about synthetic biology in DNA. The 5.3
Mb of data was more than 1000 times greater than the previous largest amount of information to be stored in synthesized DNA. A similar project encoded the complete
sonnet
A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
s of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
in DNA. More generally, algorithms such as NUPACK, ViennaRNA, Ribosome Binding Site Calculator, Cello, and Non-Repetitive Parts Calculator enables the design of new genetic systems.
Many technologies have been developed for incorporating
unnatural nucleotides and amino acids into nucleic acids and proteins, both ''in vitro'' and ''in vivo''. For example, in May 2014, researchers announced that they had successfully introduced two new artificial
nucleotides
Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecules w ...
into bacterial DNA. By including individual artificial nucleotides in the culture media, they were able to exchange the bacteria 24 times; they did not generate
mRNA
In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of Protein biosynthesis, synthesizing a protein.
mRNA is ...
or proteins able to use the artificial nucleotides.
Space exploration
Synthetic biology raised
NASA's interest as it could help to produce resources for astronauts from a restricted portfolio of compounds sent from Earth.
On Mars, in particular, synthetic biology could lead to production processes based on local resources, making it a powerful tool in the development of occupied outposts with less dependence on Earth.
Work has gone into developing plant strains that are able to cope with the harsh Martian environment, using similar techniques to those employed to increase resilience to certain environmental factors in agricultural crops.
Synthetic life
![Syn3 genome](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Syn3_genome.svg)
One important topic in synthetic biology is ''synthetic life'', that is concerned with hypothetical organisms created ''
in vitro
''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology an ...
'' from
biomolecule
A biomolecule or biological molecule is a loosely used term for molecules present in organisms that are essential to one or more typically biological processes, such as cell division, morphogenesis, or development. Biomolecules include large ...
s and/or
chemical analogues thereof. Synthetic life experiments attempt to either probe the
origins of life
In biology, abiogenesis (from a- 'not' + Greek bios 'life' + genesis 'origin') or the origin of life is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds. The prevailing scientific hypothes ...
, study some of the properties of life, or more ambitiously to recreate life from non-living (
abiotic
In biology and ecology, abiotic components or abiotic factors are non-living chemical and physical parts of the environment that affect living organisms and the functioning of ecosystems. Abiotic factors and the phenomena associated with them under ...
) components. Synthetic life biology attempts to create living organisms capable of carrying out important functions, from manufacturing pharmaceuticals to detoxifying polluted land and water.
In medicine, it offers prospects of using designer biological parts as a starting point for new classes of therapies and diagnostic tools.
A living "artificial cell" has been defined as a completely synthetic cell that can capture
energy
In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...
, maintain
ion gradients, contain
macromolecules
A macromolecule is a very large molecule important to biophysical processes, such as a protein or nucleic acid. It is composed of thousands of covalently bonded atoms. Many macromolecules are polymers of smaller molecules called monomers. The ...
as well as store information and have the ability to
mutate
In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitos ...
.
Nobody has been able to create such a cell.
A completely synthetic bacterial chromosome was produced in 2010 by
Craig Venter
John Craig Venter (born October 14, 1946) is an American biotechnologist and businessman. He is known for leading one of the first draft sequences of the human genome and assembled the first team to transfect a cell with a synthetic chromosome. ...
, and his team introduced it to genomically emptied bacterial host cells.
The host cells were able to grow and replicate. The
Mycoplasma laboratorium
''Mycoplasma laboratorium'' or Synthia refers to a synthetic strain of bacterium. The project to build the new bacterium has evolved since its inception. Initially the goal was to identify a minimal set of genes that are required to sustain lif ...
is the only living organism with completely engineered genome.
The first living organism with 'artificial' expanded DNA code was presented in 2014; the team used ''E. coli'' that had its genome extracted and replaced with a chromosome with an expanded genetic code. The
nucleoside
Nucleosides are glycosylamines that can be thought of as nucleotides without a phosphate group. A nucleoside consists simply of a nucleobase (also termed a nitrogenous base) and a five-carbon sugar (ribose or 2'-deoxyribose) whereas a nucleotide ...
s added are
d5SICS
d5SICS is an artificial nucleoside containing 6-methylisoquinoline-1-thione-2-yl group instead of a base.
It pairs up with dNaM in a hydrophobic interaction. It was not able to be removed by the error-correcting machinery of the '' E. coli'' into ...
and
dNaM
dNaM is an artificial nucleobase containing a 3-methoxy-2-naphthyl group instead of a natural base.
When it was originally successfully introduced into DNA for replication in an E. coli semi-synthetic organism, it was paired up with d5SICS. Fo ...
.
In May 2019, researchers, in a milestone effort, reported the creation of a new
synthetic (possibly
artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
) form of
viable life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
, a variant of the
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
''
Escherichia coli
''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escher ...
'', by reducing the natural number of 64
codon
The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material ( DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome, which links ...
s in the bacterial
genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...
to 59 codons instead, in order to encode 20
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...
s.
In 2017 the international
Build-a-Cell large-scale open-source research collaboration for the construction of synthetic living cells was started, followed by national synthetic cell organizations in several countries, including FabriCell, MaxSynBio and BaSyC. The European synthetic cell efforts were unified in 2019 as SynCellEU initiative.
Drug delivery platforms
Engineered bacteria-based platform
Bacteria have long been used in cancer treatment. ''
Bifidobacterium
''Bifidobacterium'' is a genus of gram-positive, nonmotile, often branched anaerobic bacteria. They are ubiquitous inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract though strains have been isolated from the vagina and mouth ('' B. dentium'') of mammal ...
'' and ''
Clostridium
''Clostridium'' is a genus of anaerobic, Gram-positive bacteria. Species of ''Clostridium'' inhabit soils and the intestinal tract of animals, including humans. This genus includes several significant human pathogens, including the causative ag ...
'' selectively colonize tumors and reduce their size.
Recently synthetic biologists reprogrammed bacteria to sense and respond to a particular cancer state. Most often bacteria are used to deliver a therapeutic molecule directly to the tumor to minimize off-target effects. To target the tumor cells,
peptide
Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides.
A ...
s that can specifically recognize a tumor were expressed on the surfaces of bacteria. Peptides used include an
affibody molecule that specifically targets human
epidermal growth factor receptor 2 and a synthetic
adhesin.
The other way is to allow bacteria to sense the
tumor microenvironment
The tumor microenvironment (TME) is the environment around a tumor, including the surrounding blood vessels, immune cells, fibroblasts, signaling molecules and the extracellular matrix (ECM). The tumor and the surrounding microenvironment are cl ...
, for example hypoxia, by building an AND logic gate into bacteria. The bacteria then only release target therapeutic molecules to the tumor through either
lysis
Lysis ( ) is the breaking down of the membrane of a cell, often by viral, enzymic, or osmotic (that is, "lytic" ) mechanisms that compromise its integrity. A fluid containing the contents of lysed cells is called a ''lysate''. In molecular bio ...
or the
bacterial secretion system. Lysis has the advantage that it can stimulate the immune system and control growth. Multiple types of secretion systems can be used and other strategies as well. The system is inducible by external signals. Inducers include chemicals, electromagnetic or light waves.
Multiple species and strains are applied in these therapeutics. Most commonly used bacteria are ''
Salmonella typhimurium
''Salmonella enterica'' subsp. ''enterica'' is a subspecies of ''Salmonella enterica'', the rod-shaped, flagellated, aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium. Many of the pathogenic serovars of the ''S. enterica'' species are in this subspecies, includi ...
'',
''Escherichia Coli'', ''Bifidobacteria'', ''
Streptococcus
''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive ' (plural ) or spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occurs ...
'', ''
Lactobacillus
''Lactobacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive, aerotolerant anaerobes or microaerophilic, rod-shaped, non-spore-forming bacteria. Until 2020, the genus ''Lactobacillus'' comprised over 260 phylogenetically, ecologically, and metabolically diver ...
'', ''
Listeria
''Listeria'' is a genus of bacteria that acts as an intracellular parasite in mammals. Until 1992, 17 species were known, each containing two subspecies. By 2020, 21 species had been identified. The genus is named in honour of the British pi ...
'' and ''
Bacillus subtilis
''Bacillus subtilis'', known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, humans and marine sponges. As a member of the genus ''Bacillu ...
''. Each of these species have their own property and are unique to cancer therapy in terms of tissue colonization, interaction with immune system and ease of application.
Cell-based platform
The immune system plays an important role in cancer and can be harnessed to attack cancer cells. Cell-based therapies focus on
immunotherapies
Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...
, mostly by engineering
T cell
A T cell is a type of lymphocyte. T cells are one of the important white blood cells of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell r ...
s.
T cell receptors were engineered and ‘trained’ to detect cancer
epitope
An epitope, also known as antigenic determinant, is the part of an antigen that is recognized by the immune system, specifically by antibodies, B cells, or T cells. The epitope is the specific piece of the antigen to which an antibody binds. The p ...
s.
Chimeric antigen receptor
In biology, chimeric antigen receptors (CARs)—also known as chimeric immunoreceptors, chimeric T cell receptors or artificial T cell receptors—are receptor proteins that have been engineered to give T cells the new ability to target a specific ...
s (CARs) are composed of a fragment of an
antibody
An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...
fused to intracellular T cell signaling domains that can activate and trigger proliferation of the cell. A second generation CAR-based therapy was approved by FDA.
Gene switches were designed to enhance safety of the treatment. Kill switches were developed to terminate the therapy should the patient show severe side effects. Mechanisms can more finely control the system and stop and reactivate it. Since the number of T-cells are important for therapy persistence and severity, growth of T-cells is also controlled to dial the effectiveness and safety of therapeutics.
Although several mechanisms can improve safety and control, limitations include the difficulty of inducing large DNA circuits into the cells and risks associated with introducing foreign components, especially proteins, into cells.
Organoids
Synthetic biology has been used for
organoid
An organoid is a miniaturized and simplified version of an Organ (anatomy), organ produced in vitro in three dimensions that shows realistic micro-anatomy. They are derived from one or a few Cell (biology), cells from a Tissue (biology), tissue, ...
s, which are lab-grown organs with application to medical research and transplantation.
Bioprinted organs
For bioprinted food like meat see
#Food and drink.
Other transplants and induced regeneration
There is ongoing research and development into synthetic biology based methods for inducing
regeneration in humans
Regeneration in humans is the regrowth of lost tissues or organs in response to injury. This is in contrast to wound healing, or partial regeneration, which involves closing up the injury site with some gradation of scar tissue. Some tissues such ...
as well the creation of transplantable
artificial organ
An artificial organ is a human made organ device or tissue that is implanted or integrated into a human — interfacing with living tissue — to replace a natural organ, to duplicate or augment a specific function or functions so the patient m ...
s.
Nanoparticles, artificial cells and micro-droplets
Synthetic biology can be
used for creating nanoparticles which can be used
for drug-delivery as well as for other purposes. Complementing research and development seeks to and has created
synthetic cells that mimics functions of biological cells. Applications include medicine such as
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans.
In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...
-
nanoparticle
A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is usually defined as a particle of matter that is between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. The term is sometimes used for larger particles, up to 500 nm, or fibers and tubes that are less than 1 ...
s that make blood cells eat away – from the inside out – portions of
atherosclerotic plaque
An atheroma, or atheromatous plaque, is an abnormal and reversible accumulation of material in the inner layer of an arterial wall.
The material consists of mostly macrophage cells, or debris, containing lipids, calcium and a variable amount o ...
that cause heart attacks. Synthetic micro-droplets for
algal cells or synergistic algal-bacterial multicellular
spheroid
A spheroid, also known as an ellipsoid of revolution or rotational ellipsoid, is a quadric surface obtained by rotating an ellipse about one of its principal axes; in other words, an ellipsoid with two equal semi-diameters. A spheroid has cir ...
microbial reactors, for example, could be used to produce
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
as
hydrogen economy
The hydrogen economy is using hydrogen to decarbonize economic sectors which are hard to electrify, essentially, the "hard-to-abate" sectors such as cement, steel, long-haul transport etc. In order to phase out fossil fuels and limit climate ch ...
biotechnology.
Ethics
The creation of new life and the tampering of existing life has raised
ethical concerns in the field of synthetic biology and are actively being discussed.
Common ethical questions include:
* Is it morally right to tamper with nature?
* Is one playing God when creating new life?
* What happens if a synthetic organism accidentally escapes?
* What if an individual misuses synthetic biology and creates a harmful entity (e.g., a biological weapon)?
* Who will have control of and access to the products of synthetic biology?
* Who will gain from these innovations? Investors? Medical patients? Industrial farmers?
* Does the patent system allow patents on living organisms? What about parts of organisms, like HIV resistance genes in humans?
* What if a new creation is deserving of moral or legal status?
The ethical aspects of synthetic biology has 3 main features: biosafety, biosecurity, and the creation of new life forms. Other ethical issues mentioned include the regulation of new creations, patent management of new creations, benefit distribution, and research integrity.
Ethical issues have surfaced for
recombinant DNA
Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules formed by laboratory methods of genetic recombination (such as molecular cloning) that bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be foun ...
and
genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...
(GMO) technologies and extensive regulations of
genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
and pathogen research were in place in many jurisdictions.
Amy Gutmann
Amy Gutmann (born November 19, 1949) is an American academic and diplomat who is the United States Ambassador to Germany. She was the eighth List of presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, president of the University of Pennsylvania. In No ...
, former head of the Presidential Bioethics Commission, argued that we should avoid the temptation to over-regulate synthetic biology in general, and genetic engineering in particular. According to Gutmann, "Regulatory parsimony is especially important in emerging technologies...where the temptation to stifle innovation on the basis of uncertainty and fear of the unknown is particularly great. The blunt instruments of statutory and regulatory restraint may not only inhibit the distribution of new benefits, but can be counterproductive to security and safety by preventing researchers from developing effective safeguards.".
The "creation" of life
One ethical question is whether or not it is acceptable to create new life forms, sometimes known as "playing God". Currently, the creation of new life forms not present in nature is at small-scale, the potential benefits and dangers remain unknown, and careful consideration and oversight are ensured for most studies.
Many advocates express the great potential value—to agriculture, medicine, and academic knowledge, among other fields—of creating artificial life forms. Creation of new entities could expand scientific knowledge well beyond what is currently known from studying natural phenomena. Yet there is concern that artificial life forms may reduce nature's "purity" (i.e., nature could be somehow corrupted by human intervention and manipulation) and potentially influence the adoption of more engineering-like principles instead of biodiversity- and nature-focused ideals. Some are also concerned that if an artificial life form were to be released into nature, it could hamper biodiversity by beating out natural species for resources (similar to how
algal bloom
An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in freshwater or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompas ...
s kill marine species). Another concern involves the ethical treatment of newly created entities if they happen to
sense pain,
sentience
Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '':wikt:sentientem, sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it fro ...
, and self-perception. There is an ongoing debate as to whether such life forms should be granted moral or legal rights, though no consensus exists as to how these rights would be administered or enforced.
Ethical support for synthetic biology
Ethics and moral rationales that support certain applications of synthetic biology include their potential mititgation of substantial global problems of detrimental environmental impacts of conventional
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
(including
meat production
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, start ...
),
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...
,
food security
Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...
and
human health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
, as well as potential reduction of human labor needs and, via therapies of diseases, reduction of human suffering and prolonged life.
Biosafety and biocontainment
What is most ethically appropriate when considering biosafety measures? How can accidental introduction of synthetic life in the natural environment be avoided? Much ethical consideration and critical thought has been given to these questions. Biosafety not only refers to biological containment; it also refers to strides taken to protect the public from potentially hazardous biological agents. Even though such concerns are important and remain unanswered, not all products of synthetic biology present concern for biological safety or negative consequences for the environment. It is argued that most synthetic technologies are benign and are incapable of flourishing in the outside world due to their "unnatural" characteristics as there is yet to be an example of a transgenic microbe conferred with a fitness advantage in the wild.
In general, existing
hazard controls, risk assessment methodologies, and regulations developed for traditional
genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...
s (GMOs) are considered to be sufficient for synthetic organisms. "Extrinsic"
biocontainment
One use of the concept of biocontainment is related to laboratory biosafety and pertains to microbiology laboratories in which the physical containment of pathogenic organisms or agents (bacteria, viruses, and toxins) is required, usually by ...
methods in a laboratory context include physical containment through
biosafety cabinet
A biosafety cabinet (BSC)—also called a biological safety cabinet or microbiological safety cabinet—is an enclosed, ventilated laboratory workspace for safely working with materials contaminated with (or potentially contaminated with) pathogen ...
s and
glovebox
A glovebox (or glove box) is a sealed container that is designed to allow one to manipulate objects where a separate atmosphere is desired. Built into the sides of the glovebox are gloves arranged in such a way that the user can place their han ...
es, as well as
personal protective equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elec ...
. In an agricultural context they include isolation distances and
pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
barriers, similar to methods for
biocontainment of GMOs. Synthetic organisms may offer increased hazard control because they can be engineered with "intrinsic" biocontainment methods that limit their growth in an uncontained environment, or prevent
horizontal gene transfer
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between Unicellular organism, unicellular and/or multicellular organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offsprin ...
to natural organisms. Examples of intrinsic biocontainment include
auxotrophy
Auxotrophy ( grc, αὐξάνω "to increase"; ''τροφή'' "nourishment") is the inability of an organism to synthesize a particular organic compound required for its growth (as defined by IUPAC). An auxotroph is an organism that displays this ...
, biological
kill switch
A kill switch, also known as an emergency stop (E-stop), emergency off (EMO) and as an emergency power off (EPO), is a safety mechanism used to shut off machinery in an emergency, when it cannot be shut down in the usual manner. Unlike a normal ...
es, inability of the organism to replicate or to pass modified or synthetic genes to offspring, and the use of
xenobiological organisms using alternative biochemistry, for example using artificial
xeno nucleic acids (XNA) instead of DNA.
Regarding auxotrophy, bacteria and yeast can be engineered to be unable to produce
histidine
Histidine (symbol His or H) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated –NH3+ form under biological conditions), a carboxylic acid group (which is in the de ...
, an important amino acid for all life. Such organisms can thus only be grown on histidine-rich media in laboratory conditions, nullifying fears that they could spread into undesirable areas.
Biosecurity
Some ethical issues relate to biosecurity, where biosynthetic technologies could be deliberately used to cause harm to society and/or the environment. Since synthetic biology raises ethical issues and biosecurity issues, humanity must consider and plan on how to deal with potentially harmful creations, and what kinds of ethical measures could possibly be employed to deter nefarious biosynthetic technologies. With the exception of regulating synthetic biology and biotechnology companies,
however, the issues are not seen as new because they were raised during the earlier
recombinant DNA
Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules formed by laboratory methods of genetic recombination (such as molecular cloning) that bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be foun ...
and
genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...
(GMO) debates and extensive regulations of
genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
and pathogen research are already in place in many jurisdictions.
[Presidential Commission for the study of Bioethical Issues, December 201]
NEW DIRECTIONS The Ethics of Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies
Retrieved 2012-04-14.
European Union
The
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
-funded project SYNBIOSAFE
has issued reports on how to manage synthetic biology. A 2007 paper identified key issues in safety, security, ethics and the science-society interface, which the project defined as public education and ongoing dialogue among scientists, businesses, government and ethicists.
The key security issues that SYNBIOSAFE identified involved engaging companies that sell synthetic DNA and the
biohacking community of amateur biologists. Key ethical issues concerned the creation of new life forms.
A subsequent report focused on biosecurity, especially the so-called
dual-use
In politics, diplomacy and export control, dual-use items refers to goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications. challenge. For example, while synthetic biology may lead to more efficient production of medical treatments, it may also lead to synthesis or modification of harmful pathogens (e.g.,
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
). The biohacking community remains a source of special concern, as the distributed and diffuse nature of open-source biotechnology makes it difficult to track, regulate or mitigate potential concerns over biosafety and biosecurity.
COSY, another European initiative, focuses on public perception and communication. To better communicate synthetic biology and its societal ramifications to a broader public, COSY and SYNBIOSAFE published ''SYNBIOSAFE'', a 38-minute documentary film, in October 2009.
The International Association Synthetic Biology has proposed self-regulation. This proposes specific measures that the synthetic biology industry, especially DNA synthesis companies, should implement. In 2007, a group led by scientists from leading DNA-synthesis companies published a "practical plan for developing an effective oversight framework for the DNA-synthesis industry".
United States
In January 2009, the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funded the
Woodrow Wilson Center
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...
, the
Hastings Center
The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan bioethics research institute and think tank based in Garrison, New York. It was instrumental in establishing the field of bioethics and is among the most prestigious bioethics and health policy i ...
, and the
J. Craig Venter Institute to examine the public perception, ethics and policy implications of synthetic biology.
On July 9–10, 2009, the National Academies' Committee of Science, Technology & Law convened a symposium on "Opportunities and Challenges in the Emerging Field of Synthetic Biology".
After the publication of the
first synthetic genome and the accompanying media coverage about "life" being created, President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
established the
Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues
The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (the Bioethics Commission) was created by on November 24, 2009.Executive Order 13521 - ''Establishing the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues'', November 2 ...
to study synthetic biology. The commission convened a series of meetings, and issued a report in December 2010 titled "New Directions: The Ethics of Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies." The commission stated that "while Venter's achievement marked a significant technical advance in demonstrating that a relatively large genome could be accurately synthesized and substituted for another, it did not amount to the “creation of life”. It noted that synthetic biology is an emerging field, which creates potential risks and rewards. The commission did not recommend policy or oversight changes and called for continued funding of the research and new funding for monitoring, study of emerging ethical issues and public education.
Synthetic biology, as a major tool for biological advances, results in the "potential for developing biological weapons, possible unforeseen negative impacts on human health ... and any potential environmental impact".
The proliferation of such technology could also make the production of
biological
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...
and
chemical weapons
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized Ammunition, munition that uses chemicals chemical engineering, formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be an ...
available to a wider array of state and
non-state actors
A non-state actor (NSA) are organizations and/or individuals that are not affiliated with, directed by, or funded by any government.
The interests, structure, and influence of NSAs vary widely. For example, among NSAs are non-profit organizations, ...
. These security issues may be avoided by regulating industry uses of biotechnology through policy legislation. Federal guidelines on genetic manipulation are being proposed by "the President's Bioethics Commission ... in response to the announced creation of a self-replicating cell from a chemically synthesized genome, put forward 18 recommendations not only for regulating the science ... for educating the public".
Opposition
On March 13, 2012, over 100 environmental and civil society groups, including
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...
, the
International Center for Technology Assessment The International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) is a U.S. non-profit bi-partisan organization, based in Washington, D.C.
ICTA was formed in 1994. Its executive director is Andrew Kimbrell. Its sister organization is the Center for Food S ...
and the
ETC Group issued the manifesto ''The Principles for the Oversight of Synthetic Biology''. This manifesto calls for a worldwide moratorium on the release and commercial use of synthetic organisms until more robust regulations and rigorous biosafety measures are established. The groups specifically call for an outright ban on the use of synthetic biology on the
human genome
The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as DNA within the 23 chromosome pairs in cell nuclei and in a small DNA molecule found within individual mitochondria. These are usually treated separately as the n ...
or
human microbiome
The human microbiome is the aggregate of all microbiota that reside on or within human tissues and biofluids along with the corresponding anatomical sites in which they reside, including the skin, mammary glands, seminal fluid, uterus, ovarian ...
.
Richard Lewontin
Richard Charles Lewontin (March 29, 1929 – July 4, 2021) was an American evolutionary biologist, mathematician, geneticist, and social commentator. A leader in developing the mathematical basis of population genetics and evolutionary theory, h ...
wrote that some of the safety tenets for oversight discussed in ''The Principles for the Oversight of Synthetic Biology'' are reasonable, but that the main problem with the recommendations in the manifesto is that "the public at large lacks the ability to enforce any meaningful realization of those recommendations".
Health and safety
The hazards of synthetic biology include
biosafety
Biosafety is the prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health.
These prevention mechanisms include conduction of regular reviews of the biosafety in laboratory settings, as well as strict guidel ...
hazards to workers and the public,
biosecurity
Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, etc.) to animals and plants in order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease. In agriculture, thes ...
hazards stemming from deliberate engineering of organisms to cause harm, and environmental hazards. The biosafety hazards are similar to those for existing fields of biotechnology, mainly exposure to pathogens and toxic chemicals, although novel synthetic organisms may have novel risks.
For biosecurity, there is concern that synthetic or redesigned organisms could theoretically be used for
bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...
. Potential risks include recreating known pathogens from scratch, engineering existing pathogens to be more dangerous, and engineering microbes to produce harmful biochemicals.
Lastly, environmental hazards include adverse effects on
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
and
ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. Th ...
, including potential changes to land use resulting from agricultural use of synthetic organisms.
Synthetic biology is an example of a
dual-use technology
In politics, diplomacy and export control, dual-use items refers to goods, software and technology that can be used for both civilian and military applications. with the potential to be used in ways that could intentionally or unintentionally harm humans and/or damage the environment. Often "scientists, their host institutions and funding bodies" consider whether the planned research could be misused and sometimes implement measures to reduce the likelihood of misuse.
Existing risk analysis systems for GMOs are generally considered sufficient for synthetic organisms, although there may be difficulties for an organism built "bottom-up" from individual genetic sequences.
Synthetic biology generally falls under existing regulations for GMOs and biotechnology in general, and any regulations that exist for downstream commercial products, although there are generally no regulations in any jurisdiction that are specific to synthetic biology.
See also
* ''
ACS Synthetic Biology'' (journal)
*
Bioengineering
Biological engineering or
bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...
*
Biomimicry
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...
*
Carlson Curve
*
Chiral life concept
*
Computational biology
Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and big data, the field also has fo ...
*
Computational biomodeling Modelling biological systems is a significant task of systems biology and mathematical biology. Computational systems biology aims to develop and use efficient algorithms, data structures, visualization and communication tools with the goal of compu ...
*
DNA digital data storage
DNA digital data storage is the process of encoding and decoding binary data to and from synthesized strands of DNA.
While DNA as a storage medium has enormous potential because of its high storage density, its practical use is currently severely ...
*
Engineering biology
*
International Genetically Engineered Machine
The International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition is a worldwide synthetic biology competition that was initially aimed at undergraduate university students, but has since expanded to include divisions for high school students ...
*
Non-cellular life
Non-cellular life, or acellular life is life that exists without a cellular structure for at least part of its life cycle. Historically, most (descriptive) definitions of life postulated that an organism must be composed of one or more cells, b ...
*
Open synthetic biology
*
Regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function". This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by st ...
*
Synthetic intelligence
Synthetic intelligence (SI) is an alternative/opposite term for artificial intelligence emphasizing that the intelligence of machines need not be an imitation or in any way artificial; it can be a genuine form of intelligence. John Haugeland propo ...
*
Synthetic morphology
*
Synthetic virology
Synthetic virology is a branch of virology engaged in the study and engineering of synthetic man-made viruses. It is a multidisciplinary research field at the intersection of virology, synthetic biology, computational biology, and DNA nanotechnolo ...
* ''
Systems and Synthetic Biology'' (journal)
*
Tissue engineering
Tissue engineering is a biomedical engineering discipline that uses a combination of Cell (biology), cells, engineering, Materials science, materials methods, and suitable biochemistry, biochemical and physicochemical factors to restore, maintai ...
*
Xenobiology
Xenobiology (XB) is a subfield of synthetic biology, the study of synthesizing and manipulating biological devices and systems. The name "xenobiology" derives from the Greek word ''xenos'', which means "stranger, alien". Xenobiology is a form o ...
References
Bibliography
*
* European commission (2016
Synthetic biology and biodiversity; Science for Environment Policy (2016) ; Future Brief 15. Produced for the European Commission DG Environment by the Science Communication Unit, UWE, Bristol
European Commission - Science for Environment Policy PDF, 36 pages.
*
External links
Synthetic biology bookspopular science book and textbooks
Introductory Summary of Synthetic Biology Concise overview of synthetic biology concepts, developments and applications
Controversial DNA startup wants to let customers create creatures(2015-01-03), ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
''
It's Alive, But Is It Life: Synthetic Biology and the Future of Creation(28 September 2016), ''
World Science Festival
The World Science Festival is an annual science festival produced by the World Science Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in New York City. There is also an Asia-Pacific event held in Brisbane, Australia.
The foun ...
''
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