Synthetic Biology Applying Engineering to Biology - Europa

iology will drive industry, research, education and employment in the life
Synthetic
in a way that might rival the computer industry’s development during the
sciences
to the 1990s.
1970s
to the fundamental change in methodology that it entails for the
Due
of living organisms, synthetic biology may be able to fulfil many of the
modification
that traditional biotech is still struggling to fulfil, in such important areas
promises
traditional biotechnology has had some notable achievements in several of
While
areas, they have generally been slow and expensive to develop. A typical
these
in bioengineering is to develop cells or molecular components with new
approach
using empirical, evolutionary processes that may involve screening of vast
functions
of candidate systems and are hard to optimize. In essence, today’s
libraries
needs to master a very broad array of complex technologies in order
biotechnologist
achieve a goal. By potentially re-organizing biotechnological development in line
to
the principles of synthetic biology, research & development are likely to proceed
with
faster and in a much more organized way. Introduction of design rules,
much
of design and fabrication, adherence to standardized biological parts, and
separation
on, are likely to aggressively tackle the problems encountered by the traditional
so
approach.
empirical
of its rational, knowledge-based approach to biological design,
Because
biology will allow such goals to be attained more quickly and cheaply. It
synthetic
also enable developments that cannot obviously be brought about by
will
and screening procedures – for example, the coordination of complex
evolutionary
of enzymatic processes in the cell-based synthesis of useful organic
sequences
compounds.
analogy with computer technology is again illuminating here in terms of
The
change in outlook and capabilities that synthetic biology will occasion. Early
the
were used to solve highly specialized and complicated problems. Today,
computers
has become so cheap that it is a pervasive aspect of technology, used for
computing
tasks in areas such as communication, retailing and leisure. Likewise, when
routine
engineering of biology becomes easy, reliable and cheap, it will be used not only
the
solve currently intractable problems at the leading edge of applied science but for
to
routine applications that can at present be only speculated about. In other
more
while synthetic biology will at first simply accelerate existing research and
words,
for our currently most appealing applications of biotechnology, it might
development
expand its scope far beyond what it perceivable today. Examples of such
later
“high-impact” fields for biotechnological research are detailed below.
current
molecular devices for tissue repair/regeneration
Complex
of the most fascinating possibilities for synthetic biology could be the
One
of small macromolecular assemblies composed of a sensor and a group
development
enzymes, which could be used to sense damage in for example blood vessels and
of
to repair them by dissolving plaques and stimulating endothelial
proceed
Similarly, other machines could be designed to help re-establish the
regeneration.
of the collagen network and so forth. This will require a conjunction of
integrity
design with good physiological knowledge of the systems to be repaired.
protein
What can the field deliver?
as:
Biomedicine
•
Synthesis of biopharmaceuticals
•
Sustainable chemical industry
•
Environment and energy
•
Production of smart materials and biomaterials
•
Security: counter-bioterrorism
•
Biomedicine
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