Synthetic biology is an emerging area of biological research that combines both science and engineering. Engineers view biology as a technology. Synthetic biology aims to design and build biological systems for processing information, manipulating chemicals, fabricating materials and structures, producing energy and for providing food that can maintain and enhance human health and environment.
Synthetic biology involves a variety of approaches and methodologies for designing and constructing of new biological functions and systems which are not found in nature. To improve the understanding of biology, precise and accurate quantitative measurements of biological systems are required. These measurements help to elucidate the working of biological system and provide a base for the model construction and allow validation.
The biological and biotechnology could be revolutionized by synthetic biology by achieving the discovery, construct and to test the basic parts of complex synthetic systems with well programmable, controllable and robust behaviour. The biology has since come a long way where sufficient amount of genetic and biochemical data of biological system is required to enter into the synthetic stage.
Synthetic systems do not behave as intended and the system could only be studied by analysing the differences between the predicted and measured systems. Synthetic biologist tries to create an unnatural chemical system having the properties similar to that of living systems including its evolution, genetics and inheritance.
Synthetic biology can be subdivided into broad classes namely photocell design, genome engineering, bimolecular engineering and bio molecular–design, based on the approach taken to handle the problem. The photocell approaches are concerned with the self- replication system from synthetic compounds. The bio molecular design approaches aim to create a tool kit of functional units, which can be introduced to the living cells. In genome engineering, the approach is to develop to synthetic chromosomes for whole organisms.
The key concepts required for the critical growth of synthetic biology, which include standardization of biological parts and hierarchical abstraction for permitting the usage of those parts in complex synthetic systems. The time and effort expended during the fabrication of engineered genetic sequence are the critical limitation in synthetic biology. The process could be made faster by using gene synthesis. The primary tools and equipment used for synthetic systems can be grouped into two categories namely the equipment for modification of host organism and tools involved in manipulation of DNA.
The Michael Elowitz’s model explained how the gene expression should work inside living cells, by building a piece of DNA in living cells. The precise and accurate quantitative measurements of biological systems formed the basis for model construction and validation and helped to elucidate how the biological systems work. The microscopy and flow cytometry are some of the useful measurement technologies.
Synthetic biology makes use of gene assembly were the protein acts as molecular-scale. They are used for detecting and responding to changes in the state of health and combat disease at a very early stage in its development. This technology can also be made use in tissue repairing and cell regeneration.
The principles of synthetic biology makes use of the engineered organism for creating useful material from cheap raw material or for conversion of fuel from feed stock, there by making the chemical industry environmental friendly. Synthetic biology can fulfill all the drawbacks involved in the traditional biotechnology for the advancement in the area of biomedicine, sustainable chemical industry, synthesis of biopharmaceuticals, environment and energy, production of smart biomaterials and other useful materials and finally security to counter-bio-terrorism.
The reorganization of the biotechnological development in the path of synthetic biology could speed up the research and development to achieve the goal. The development involved in biomedicine like development of small macromolecular assemblies composed of a sensor and a group of enzymes for detecting damage in the biological system. Synthetic biology helps to speed up the synthetic molecular assembly encapsulating a drug in the inactive form, which could sense the molecular disease and make suitable diagnostic decision before the final drug is activated. The technology can also help in designing an organism-friendly devise for sensing the changes in particular hormones and will secrete chemical or biological compounds in response to it.
The principles of synthetic biology will help in the designing of viruses for delivering healthy genes to the target tissue by implementing specific recombination and integration of synthetic genes. Synthetic biology will allow synthesizing personalized drugs that can be used according to the specific requirements of the patient. The advancement in synthetic biology will lead us to modify human cells, like the stem cells for achieving new functions, which are not present in our body. The mass DNA synthesis can open new avenues for efficient routes to natural and non-natural products for the development of novel medicines.
Synthetic biology can act as a tool in developing bulk drugs from micro-organism, there by creating an environmentally friendly chemical production. The rational modification of bacteria and fungi can be initiated by using synthetic biology to eliminate toxic waste which is otherwise cannot be eliminated by other means. The new biological research will allow the transition of manufacturing chemicals from cheaper raw materials.
The synthetic biology can synthesise complex heteropolymers with reproducible structures. A new diagnostic tool developed based on synthetic biology for detecting patient samples infected with HIV and hepatitis viruses. Researchers have now developed a harmless E.coli strain for killing pseudomonas aeruginosa, a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections causing respiratory tract infection.The suicidal E.coli produce a protein called LasR responsible for the recognition of molecules that P.aerginosa use to communicate with one another and lead to the switching of two genes for the destruction of the organism.
The synthetic biology based development suggest the spider silk can hold the key for creating artificial skin for the treatment of skin burns and others requiring skin graft. The spray on DNA mist is a technology based on synthetic DNA useful in the prevention of theft. The spray behaves like a silent alarm without the knowledge of the thief and automatically alerts the police department.
The civil society groups to synthetic biology formed a union named ETC and have called for global moratorium against releasing synthetic organisms from lab. The new concepts also raise questions regarding ethics, bio security, bio safety, involvement of stakeholders and intellectual property.
(The author is Asst Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics, National College of Pharmacy, Manassery, Calicut, Kerala)