There are some major enabling technologies crucial to the development of synthetic biology. Key concepts include hierarchical abstraction and standardization of biological parts. Fundamental technologies of DNA reading and writing (which are exponentially improving in price/performance ) are needed to achieve this. In addition, measurements under various conditions are needed for computer-aided-design and accurate modeling. This article first defines what synthetic biology is and then describes its key enabling technologies.
Synthetic biology
Synthetic biology refers to an approach to biology that integrates various areas of research to come up with a more holistic understanding of life. In 1980 Barbara Hobom used the term to describe genetically modified bacteria using the recombinant DNA technology. These bacteria are living (biological) engineered using human intervention (i.e., synthetically). Thus synthetic biology was synonymous with bioengineering in this respect.
In recent years, synthetic biology has signalled a new area of research, combining science and engineering to design and create novel biological systems and functions. In 2000, Eric Kool re-introduced the term at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco. He and other speakers used the term to describe the organization of unnatural organic molecules functioning in living systems. In this respect, synthetic biology refers to efforts of “redesigning life”.
Sequencing
Synthetic biologists use DNA sequencing in many ways: (1) They use large-scale genome sequencing efforts, providing vital information about naturally occurring organisms. (2) They use sequencing to confirm that they constructed their intended engineered system. (3) Reliable, cheap, and fast sequencing can facilitate rapid identification and detection of synthetic organisms and systems.
Fabrication
The effort and time exhausted during fabrication of engineered DNA sequences is currently a major limitation in synthetic biology. What synthetic biology needs to speed up the design, fabrication, testing, and redesign is a more reliable and rapid de novo DNA synthesis as well as assembly of genetic fragments. It was reported in 2007 that some companies offered the synthesis of DNA sequences up to 2000 bp long, costing $1 for each base pair and had a turnaround time of not more than two weeks.
Modeling
Models define the design of modified biological systems by enabling synthetic biologists to predict system behavior better before fabrication. Better models of the behavior of multi-component integrated systems will benefit synthetic biology. Improved models of how molecules catalyze reactions and bind substrates, and how DNA encodes the information needed to specify the cell will also benefit this approach to understanding biology.
Measurement
Accurate and precise calculation of biological systems are very vital to improving our understanding of biology. Often, such measurements help scientists to explain how biological systems function and give the basis for constructing and validating models. Differences between measured and predicted system behavior can define knowledge gaps and elucidate why synthetic systems do not always behave as intended. Flow cytometry and microscopy are two useful measurement technologies.
