Plant Facts: Did You Know?
Synthetic Biology
The term “synthetic biology” has historically referred to a way to integrate various types of biological research and knowledge for a more comprehensive or holistic understanding of how living systems work - and work together. Today, the term is increasingly being used more specifically to refer to a branch of biological science that brings together scientific research in the fields of biology and chemistry with technological approaches from engineering, assisted by a variety of new tools such as computer modeling and materials fabrication, and new techniques of genetic manipulation.
The goal of synthetic biology is to design and build new biological systems or functions that feature more efficient or effective applications for health, energy, or biosafety. For example, Dr. Keasling is working on using synthetic biology to create better, more affordable treatments for malaria. Below is an abstract of his talk from the Danforth Center International Fall Symposium. For more information about the details of his research and the emerging field of synthetic biology, click HERE.
Synthetic Biology in pursuit of Low-Cost, Effective, Anti-Malarial Drugs
Jay Keasling
Synthetic biology is the design and construction of new biological entities such as enzymes, genetic circuits, and cells or the redesign of existing biological systems. Synthetic biology builds on the advances in molecular, cell, and systems biology and seeks to transform biology in the same way that synthesis transformed chemistry and integrated circuit design transformed computing. The element that distinguishes synthetic biology from traditional molecular and cellular biology is the focus on the design and construction of core components (parts of enzymes, genetic circuits, metabolic pathways, etc.) that can be modeled, understood, and tuned to meet specific performance criteria, and the assembly of these smaller parts and devices into larger integrated systems that solve specific problems. Just as engineers now design integrated circuits based on the known physical properties of materials and then fabricate functioning circuits and entire processors (with relatively high reliability), synthetic biologists will soon design and build engineered biological systems.
We are using synthetic biology to create inexpensive, effective, anti-malarial drugs. Currently, malaria infects 300–500 million people and causes 1-2 million deaths each year, primarily children in Africa and Asia. One of the principal obstacles to addressing this global health threat is a lack of effective, affordable drugs. The chloroquine-based drugs that were used widely in the past have lost effectiveness because the Plasmodium parasite which causes malaria has become resistant to them. The faster-acting, more effective artemisinin-based drugs — as currently produced from plant sources — are too expensive for large-scale use in the countries where they are needed most. The development of this technology will eventually reduce the cost of artemisinin-based combination therapies significantly below their current price. To reduce the cost of these drugs and make them more widely available, we have used synthetic biology to engineer microorganisms to produce artemisinin from renewable resources. I will describe the process by which we engineered production of this important drug and the prospects for translating this research to people most in need of the drug.
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