Science Media Centre Fact Sheet

Synthetic Biology

What is synthetic biology? The creation or modification of living biological systems through artificial means, drawing on natural biological principles and engineering techniques. This involves creating and manipulating biological components at the cellular and genetic level, with the ultimate aim of creating simple artificial organisms ('artificial life').

Is it a new area of research? The term "synthetic biology" first appeared in the literature in 1978, to describe bacteria that had been genetically engineered using recombinant DNA technology. In this respect, synthetic biology was largely synonymous with genetic engineering, though this has since changed.

In 2000, the term "synthetic biology" was first used to describe the synthesis of unnatural organic molecules that function in living systems. More broadly in this sense, the term has been used with reference to efforts to "redesign life".

(Ref: Benner, S. et al. "Synthetic Biology", Nature Reviews Genetics, July 2005)

What are the techniques? The main techniques involved are genetic sequencing and synthesis of simple bacterial genomes - one of the primary aims is to construct a synthetic genome with the minimum number of genes necessary to support life - and then transplanting this into a bacterial cell, thereby creating a new type of organism.

Another key aspect of synthetic biology is the creation of biological parts, devices and systems which do not occur in the natural world, as well as redesigning existing systems. For example, biological parts can be used to produce biologically-based devices, such as biosensors for urinary tract infections.

Scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute in the US (led by Craig Venter) are attempting to do this; so far they have successfully created an artificial genome but not yet (prior to the current paper) succeeded in integrating it into a bacterial cell.

What are the applications?  Synthesis of pharmaceuticals – synthetic organisms can be genetically 'programmed' to synthesise pharmaceutical compounds - e.g. the synthesis of the anti-malarial compound artemisinin by introducing novel metabolic enzymes into yeast (Ro et al., Nature 440; 2006)  Living therapies – synthetic organisms can also be designed to carry out therapeutic functions - e.g. the use of modified bacteria to specifically target tumour cells in cancer therapy (Zhao et al. PNAS 2005). Although this example involves creating transgenic bacteria without using engineering

principles, development of such therapies will be expanded and speeded up using synthetic biology approaches.  Engineering human stem cells to have controlled outputs and characteristics – applications might include tissue regeneration or manipulation of the immune system to treat specific infections and diseases.  Microbial biosensors – The fields of biomaterials and microbial biosensors are well established, but are moving rapidly into adopting synthetic biology approaches - e.g. University of Edinburgh’s IGEM 2006 project entry, which aimed to create an arsenic biosensor that could work in parts of the world most affected by poor water quality (e.g. Bangladesh). Also Imperial College London's entry in 2007 on biosensors for bacterial infections.  Biological logic gates - the biological equivalents to a key component of computers and microprocessors - the aim is to be able to produce biological microprocessors which could control intracellular functions.  New energy sources – e.g. biofuels such as sugar cane and maize are inefficient as much of the plant material is cellulose, which cannot be broken down easily. Synthetic micro-organisms could be developed to break down the cellulose.  New materials - synthetic cells could be programmed to produce artificial materials with wide applications - e.g. the lab of US scientist Chris Voigt is working on engineering elements of Salmonella bacteria to secrete spider silk proteins, for possible use in artificial biomaterials.  Non-biological devices that incorporate biological 'components'

Who are the leading scientists/institutions in the UK? The following UK institutions are centres of synthetic biology research:  Imperial College London (the EPSRC UK national Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation)  University of Cambridge  Newcastle University  University of Edinburgh

What are the safety and ethical issues? The theoretical ability to design new organisms raises philosophical questions as well as safety, security and ethics issues, and will no doubt lead to extensive debate. These issues include:

 Is it right to synthesise life?  Bioterrorism – developing new viruses/ recreating extinct viruses (e.g. 1918 influenza virus). However, some terrorism experts believe this method of attack is unlikely.  Biohackers - As genetic information multiplies and the cost of hardware falls, could we see a new generation of "biohackers" akin to computer hackers? This is unlikely as regulation exists making it difficult to obtain key DNA sequences and very secure biofacilities are required for such research.

 Accidental leakage of new pathogens into the environment – However, scientists should be able to build in "self-destruction" mechanisms that prevent the new organism from replicating out of control.

How does synthetic biology relate to systems biology? Systems biology refers broadly to the study of biological interactions and processes at the integrated 'systems' level and how different parts of biological systems interact. Synthetic biology draws on systems biology in seeking to understand and create synthetic biological devices and systems.

Synthetic biology draws heavily on engineering principles and has a wide range of applications. The end point of systems biology is understanding biological systems, while the end point of synthetic biology is sometimes referred to as the 'industrialisation' of biology.

Prepared with assistance from the Wellcome Trust

Sources / further information

Synthetic Biology Project, from the Woodrow Wilson Centre for Scholars http://www.synbioproject.org/about/ http://syntheticbiology.org/ info from the International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition: http://openwetware.org/images/f/f9/IGEM_Student_Book.pdf

Royal Academy of Engineering report on synthetic biology: http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/publications/list/reports/Synthetic_biology.pdf

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