Synthetic morphology is a sub-discipline of the broader field of

synthetic biology 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 ran ...

. In standard

, artificial

gene networks A gene (or genetic) regulatory network (GRN) is a collection of molecular regulators that interact with each other and with other substances in the cell to govern the gene expression levels of mRNA and proteins which, in turn, determine the fu ...

are introduced into

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

s, inputs (e.g. chemicals, light) are applied to those networks, and the networks perform logical operations on them and output the result of the operation as the activity of an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

or as the amount of

green fluorescent protein The green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a protein that exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to light in the blue to ultraviolet range. The label ''GFP'' traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the jellyfish ''Aequorea ...

. Using this approach, synthetic biologists have demonstrated the ability of their gene networks to perform Boolean

computation Computation is any type of arithmetic or non-arithmetic calculation that follows a well-defined model (e.g., an algorithm). Mechanical or electronic devices (or, historically, people) that perform computations are known as ''computers''. An es ...

, to hold a memory, and to generate pulses and

oscillation Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

. Synthetic morphology extends this idea by adding output modules that alter the shape or social behaviour of cells in response to the state of the artificial gene network. For example, instead of just making a fluorescent protein, a

gene network A gene (or genetic) regulatory network (GRN) is a collection of molecular regulators that interact with each other and with other substances in the cell to govern the gene expression levels of mRNA and proteins which, in turn, determine the fu ...

may switch on an

adhesion molecule Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) are a subset of cell surface proteins that are involved in the binding of cells with other cells or with the extracellular matrix (ECM), in a process called cell adhesion. In essence, CAMs help cells stick to each ...

so that cells stick to each other, or activate a

motility Motility is the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy. Definitions Motility, the ability of an organism to move independently, using metabolic energy, can be contrasted with sessility, the state of organisms th ...

system so that cells move. It has been argued that the formation of properly-shaped tissues by mammalian cells involves mainly a set of about ten basic cellular events (cell proliferation, cell death, cell adhesion, differential adhesion, cell de-adhesion, cell fusion, cell locomotion, chemotaxis, haptotaxis, cell wedging).Davies JA (2008) Synthetic morphology: prospects for engineered, self-constructing anatomies. J Anat. 2008 Jun;212(6):707-19. Broadly similar lists exist for tissues of plants, fungi etc. In principle, therefore, a fairly small set of output modules might allow biotechnologists to 'program' cells to produce artificially-designed arrangements, shapes and eventually 'tissues'. The term synthetic morphology was introduced to the

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed scientific literature in 2008 and is now becoming more widely used both in peer-reviewed literature Tanaka H, Yi TM (2009) Synthetic morphology using alternative inputs. PLoS One. 2009 Sep 10;4(9):e6946. and texts.Meyer, Meyer, Handschel, Wiesmann (2009) Fundamentals of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. Springer

References

{{Reflist Morphology (biology) Synthetic biology