Synthetic biology is a field of science that combines biology with technology to create new and artificial living systems. It involves designing and constructing biological parts, devices, and systems using DNA and other molecules. In simpler terms,
synthetic biology is about building new living things using tools from biology and engineering.
Full definition
The expansion
of synthetic biology in recent years may let scientists create biofuels that reduce global warming and make cheaper and more effective drugs.
Using synthetic biology and genetic engineering, scientists can place ads within food products that appear only when it is cooked or consumed.
Most real - life applications are still a long shot, but commercial products based
on synthetic biology, especially in the fields of biofuels and pharmaceuticals, are now in sight.
Others say that a made - to - order human genome is inevitable anyway, hoping to seize the publicity and controversy it creates as an opportunity to educate the public
about synthetic biology.
Moreover, the leaps made
by synthetic biology will potentially open up new avenues to benefit humankind.
Today, manufacturers are relying on robotics to create products in fields ranging
from synthetic biology to furniture.
This Canadian organization has set out to lower the cost of cancer treatments while also making them more effective by embracing a new wave of
synthetic biology technology.
The key to understanding complicated things
like synthetic biology is being able to break them into simpler things.
In the past few years new robotics, computational biology, and gene - editing and gene - synthesis technologies have emerged to
make synthetic biology efficient and cost - effective.
Finally, researchers and entrepreneurs working in
synthetic biology need to be aware of the societal, ethical, political, and economic context.
Along with high - end products like rose perfume and beer, there is a plethora of potential
synthetic biology products that aren't food items.
The price of synthesis is dropping, too, which makes the idea of citizen scientists
doing synthetic biology in home labs more feasible.
As the latest upgrade to biological engineering methods,
synthetic biology enables researchers to come up with new and predictable genetic outcomes using mathematical and engineering principles.
While genetic engineering involves the exchange of genes between species,
synthetic biology involves artificially creating new genetic code and inserting it into organisms.
In addition, there needs to be better public engagement
around synthetic biology, an area where no overarching federal strategy exists.
While synthetic biology is growing as a field of science, international civil society organizations rely on their 1990s genetic engineering strategy.
His suggested approach would use technology to manage nature
through synthetic biology, which brings modern engineering principles to the design and construction of living systems.
If
synthetic biology turns out to improve in the accelerating way that computer hardware does, we will be in for quite a ride.
Recent political events and long - term environmental trends offer little comfort; artificial intelligence and
synthetic biology add a more urgent threat.
Despite these challenges, most experts
see synthetic biology as a safe career bet for a talented scientist.
At this point,
synthetic biology takes place mainly at lab benches, but this technology is aimed at mainstream uses and is becoming more accessible to mainstream users.
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.
The nascent field of
synthetic biology sits squarely upon a solid scientific foundation built by decades of research in biotechnology and genetic engineering.
So synthetic biology's «parts» are the DNA sequences that contain certain manufacturing instructions.
At its core, the idea
behind synthetic biology is simple: design and build biological systems to do what we want them to do.
But predicting exactly
what synthetic biology will enable even 10 years hence is like trying to predict cell phones when vacuum tubes were invented.
If
synthetic biology instead turns out to be more like software, it will still be amazing but in a more incremental, less predictable way.
Some activists have criticized the report, saying more stringent controls
on synthetic biology are needed.
Phrases with «synthetic biology»