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Synthetic biology
« on: 2004-09-26 07:51:54 » |
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Vision | Cells by Design
http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2004/sep/research2_040927.html
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Synthetic biology is a new discipline based on the expectation of a revolution. In the future, bioengineers will create new organisms based on the same strategies that engineers use to design computer chips, bridges, and skyscrapers. Mathematical modeling will drive the design of useful, artificial organisms, instead of relying on the blind, trial-and-error methods of natural selection.
Advocates say synthetic biology will develop because of the rapidly decreasing cost of DNA synthesis and sequencing. Commercial plasmid-synthesis companies currently construct large pieces of DNA for less than $3 per base, and the price continues to drop,1 making the contract-synthesis of an entire bacterial genome feasible at costs comparable to preclinical drug development. Just as cheap transistors preceded the computer revolution, commoditization of DNA synthesis will spur huge changes in biological construction.
The capability to cheaply synthesize DNA is so powerful that no one quite knows what to do with it. A graduate student will soon be able to mail-order large gene complexes without putting a dent in the budget. For the student, the focus suddenly shifts from the tedium of DNA construction to more basic questions: What should I make? How should I design my DNA construct? How should I debug and optimize it?
At a few institutions around the country, engineers, biologists, biological engineers, and others from computer programming, biotechnology, hardware design, drug development, and bioethics have begun addressing these questions. The field embodies a sometimes-dissonant meld of scientists, who want to understand biology, and engineers, who want to rebuild it. Both may get their wish. As the field works to create new living systems that serve a purpose, making possible microbial factories, cancer smart-bombs, pollutant detectors, and living calculators, a new foundation for biological understanding should emerge.
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