Finally, researchers and entrepreneurs
working in synthetic biology need to be aware of the societal, ethical, political, and economic context.
The research spending comes at a time of growing
interest in synthetic biology, particularly surrounding the potential presented by new gene - editing techniques.
What all this means for young scientists is that, provided they are well prepared, opportunities for them to make a difference and find a scientific
niche in synthetic biology abound.
For scientists
working in synthetic biology, one of the greatest challenges is to make the public understand that what they are doing is not harmful.
This new information contributes to understanding protein stability and electron transfer between cells and minerals, which is important for
applications in synthetic biology such as biofuel production.
«Technical advances enabled by active genetics represent an innovative toolkit to engineer organisms with novel features, thereby enabling a new era of
advances in synthetic biology,» said Gantz.
Despite the PR problems experienced by some
pioneers in the synthetic biology arena, Pandya is confident that by being transparent about the process and its environmental and ethical benefits, and engaging with NGOs along the way, Perfect Day will be able to avoid «Frankenmilk» headlines, however.
Radha Krishnakumar pursues her career
in synthetic biology at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland.
In the»90s, he went on to help develop automated DNA synthesis and sequencing technology, unknowingly paving the way for his oldest son's
career in synthetic biology.
Building a DNA oscillator is a biological engineering feat in itself and would likely be integral for potential
breakthroughs in synthetic biology, such as controlling the timing of events in artificial cells, scheduling the release of drugs and synchronizing molecular computers.
Evans will discuss how federal investments
in synthetic biology fields are creating new markets and applications that are fueling the bioeconomy.
The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) offers an undergraduate degree in bioengineering with elective
courses in synthetic biology and a bioengineering graduate program with a synthetic and systems biology track.
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, for example, recently counted more than 220 companies, government laboratories, research institutions, universities, and policy centers involved
in synthetic biology in the United States, with California, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas hosting the majority of these.
However, low surface tension makes them relatively unstable to coalescence limiting their use
in synthetic biology as discrete artificial cellular compartments2.
CC: I have been involved in other projects where I turn data into sound, for example the output captured by underground geophones from fracking, or complex
structures in synthetic biology.
ICL recently launched a new Institute of Systems and Synthetic Biology, which runs a final - year undergraduate course and a Master's of Research
degree in synthetic biology.
John Glass, a senior
microbiologist in the synthetic biology group at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland, puts it this way: If you can imagine a set of genes that will program a cell to do something — anything — then you can make them «at a reasonable cost and test your hypothesis... so it will be possible to attempt to design organisms that have extraordinary properties to solve human needs.»
James Collins, a professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University who was not associated with this research, says, «
Efforts in synthetic biology to create complex gene circuits are often hindered by unanticipated or uncharacterized interactions between submodules of the circuits.
«The combination of quantitative abilities and experimental biology skills is very
valuable in synthetic biology,» says Timothy Lu of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) Research Laboratory of Electronics, an interdepartmental center where «research encompasses an extensive range of natural and man - made phenomena.»
«Based on the [commission's] recommendations, very little has been done,» says Todd Kuiken, an environmental scientist at the Woodrow Wilson Center who
specializes in synthetic biology.
«E. coli remains the workhorse microbial
host in synthetic biology, and in our study, using the ionic - liquid - tolerant E. coli strain, we can combine many earlier discoveries to create an advanced biofuel in a single pot.»
Sarah Richardson is a postdoctoral
fellow in synthetic biology at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and at the University of California, Berkeley.
As for practical applications, Wingreen says that the general sensing strategy might build into the artificial cells researchers are trying to
create in synthetic biology.
The Synthetic Biology project recently received two grants from the National Science Foundation to support a Transatlantic Exploratory Workshop on the Implications of Cutting - Edge Biotechnologies for Sustainability Science and Policy, and research on the use of on - line prediction markets to explore emerging
issues in synthetic biology.