Synthetic Biology:
A multicellular Approach
The
field of synthetic biology has made rapid progress in a number of areas
including method development, novel applications, and community building. In
seeking to make biology “engineerable,” synthetic biology is increasing the
accessibility of biological research to researchers of all experience levels
and backgrounds. One of the underlying strengths of synthetic biology is that
it may establish the framework for a rigorous bottom-up approach to studying
biology starting at the DNA level. Building upon the existing framework established
largely by the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, careful consideration of
future goals may lead to integrated multi-scale approaches to biology.
Synthetic
biology is a new interdisciplinary area that involves the application
of engineering principles to biology. It aims at the (re-)design and
fabrication of biological components and systems that do not already exist
in the natural world. Synthetic biology combines the chemical synthesis of DNA
with growing knowledge of genomics to enable researchers to quickly
manufacture cataloged DNA sequences and assemble them into new genomes.
Improvements in the
speed and cost of DNA synthesis are enabling scientists to design and
synthesize modified bacterial chromosomes that can be used in the production
of advanced biofuels, bio-products, renewable chemicals, bio-based
specialty chemicals (pharmaceutical intermediates, fine chemicals, food
ingredients), and in the health care sector as well.
Synthetic
biologists are working to develop:
·
Standardized
biological parts -- identify and catalogue standardized genomic parts that
can be used (and synthesized quickly) to build novel biological systems;
·
Applied
protein design -- re-design existing biological parts and expand the
set of natural protein functions for new processes;
·
Natural
product synthesis -- engineer microbes to produce all of the
necessary enzymes and biological functions to perform complex multistep
production of natural products; and
·
Synthetic
genomics -- design and construct a ‘simple’ genome for a
natural bacterium.
Examples
of synthetic biology companies:
Commercial
firms that sell synthetic DNA (oligonucleotides, genes, or genomes) to
users are DNA synthesis companies, including ATG: biosynthetic, Blue Heron
Biotechnology, DNA 2.0, GENERATE and Genomatica.
Leading
consumer companies of the DNA that are building novel biological systems
for bioproducts, biofuels, and the healthcare sector include Amyris
Biotechnologies, Inc., Codexis, Genencor (A Division of Danisco), Life
Technologies, Genomatica, Qteros, CODA Genomics, Modular Genetics, DNA2.0,
Inc., Verdezyne, DSM, Myriant, Gevo, Inc., LS9, Inc., OPX Biotechnologies,
Solazyme and Synthetic Genomics, Inc.
