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Research papers on Synthetic biology

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  3. Dispersing biofilms with engineered enzymatic bacteriophage

    Timothy K. Lu, James J. Collins · 2007 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 876 citations

    Synthetic biology involves the engineering of biological organisms by using modular and generalizable designs with the ultimate goal of developing useful solutions to real-world problems. One such problem involves bacterial biofilms, which are crucial in the pathogenesis of many clinically important infections and are difficult to eradicate because they exhibit resistance to antimicrobial treatments and removal by host immune systems. To address this issue, we engineered bacteriophage to express a biofilm-degrading enzyme during infection to simultaneously attack the bacterial cells in the biofilm and the biofilm matrix, which is composed of extracellular polymeric substances. We show that t

  4. Synthetic biology in multicellular organisms: Opportunities in nematodes

    Dmytro Kukhtar, M. Fussenegger · 2023 · Biotechnology and Bioengineering · 820 citations

    Synthetic biology has mainly focused on introducing new or altered functionality in single cell systems: primarily bacteria, yeast, or mammalian cells. Here, we describe the extension of synthetic biology to nematodes, in particular the well‐studied model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, as a convenient platform for developing applications in a multicellular setting. We review transgenesis techniques for nematodes, as well as the application of synthetic biology principles to construct nematode gene switches and genetic devices to control motility. Finally, we discuss potential applications of engineered nematodes.

  6. Engineered Living Materials: Prospects and Challenges for Using Biological Systems to Direct the Assembly of Smart Materials

    Peter Q. Nguyen, Noémie‐Manuelle Dorval Courchesne, Anna Duraj‐Thatte, et al. · 2018 · Advanced Materials · 583 citations

    Vast potential exists for the development of novel, engineered platforms that manipulate biology for the production of programmed advanced materials. Such systems would possess the autonomous, adaptive, and self-healing characteristics of living organisms, but would be engineered with the goal of assembling bulk materials with designer physicochemical or mechanical properties, across multiple length scales. Early efforts toward such engineered living materials (ELMs) are reviewed here, with an emphasis on engineered bacterial systems, living composite materials which integrate inorganic components, successful examples of large-scale implementation, and production methods. In addition, a conc

  11. Synthetic biology of cyanobacteria: unique challenges and opportunities

    Bertram M. Berla, Rajib Saha, Cheryl M. Immethun, et al. · 2013 · Frontiers in Microbiology · 307 citations

    Photosynthetic organisms, and especially cyanobacteria, hold great promise as sources of renewably-produced fuels, bulk and specialty chemicals, and nutritional products. Synthetic biology tools can help unlock cyanobacteria's potential for these functions, but unfortunately tool development for these organisms has lagged behind that for S. cerevisiae and E. coli. While these organisms may in many cases be more difficult to work with as "chassis" strains for synthetic biology than certain heterotrophs, the unique advantages of autotrophs in biotechnology applications as well as the scientific importance of improved understanding of photosynthesis warrant the development of these systems into

  12. Next-generation biocontainment systems for engineered organisms

    Jeong Wook Lee, Clement T. Y. Chan, S. Slomovic, et al. · 2018 · Nature Chemical Biology · 269 citations

    The increasing use of engineered organisms for industrial, clinical, and environmental applications poses a growing risk of spreading hazardous biological entities into the environment. To address this biosafety issue, significant effort has been invested in creating ways to confine these organisms and transgenic materials. Emerging technologies in synthetic biology involving genetic circuit engineering, genome editing, and gene expression regulation have led to the development of novel biocontainment systems. In this perspective, we highlight recent advances in biocontainment and suggest a number of approaches for future development, which may be applied to overcome remaining challenges in

  15. Exploiting the Feedstock Flexibility of the Emergent Synthetic Biology Chassis Vibrio natriegens for Engineered Natural Product Production

    Gregory A Ellis, Tanya Tschirhart, J. Spangler, et al. · 2019 · Marine Drugs · 55 citations

    A recent goal of synthetic biology has been to identify new chassis that provide benefits lacking in model organisms. Vibrio natriegens is a marine Gram-negative bacterium which is an emergent synthetic biology chassis with inherent benefits: An extremely fast growth rate, genetic tractability, and the ability to grow on a variety of carbon sources (“feedstock flexibility”). Given these inherent benefits, we sought to determine its potential to heterologously produce natural products, and chose beta-carotene and violacein as test cases. For beta-carotene production, we expressed the beta-carotene biosynthetic pathway from the sister marine bacterium Vibrio campbellii, as well as the mevalona

  16. Engineering microbes for enhancing the degradation of environmental pollutants: A detailed review on synthetic biology.

    P. R. Yaashikaa, M. K. Devi, P. Kumar · 2022 · Environmental research · 54 citations

    Anthropogenic activities resulted in the deposition of huge quantities of contaminants such as heavy metals, dyes, hydrocarbons, etc into an ecosystem. The serious ill effects caused by these pollutants to all living organisms forced in advancement of technology for degrading or removing these pollutants. This degrading activity is mostly depending on microorganisms owing to their ability to survive in harsh adverse conditions. Though native strains possess the capability to degrade these pollutants the development of genetic engineering and molecular biology resulted in engineering approaches that enhanced the efficiency of microbes in degrading pollutants at faster rate. Many bioinformatic

  17. Synthetic biology techniques to tackle heavy metal pollution and poisoning

    Adithi Somayaji, S. Sarkar, Shravan Balasubramaniam, et al. · 2022 · Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology · 26 citations

    The requirement for natural resources and energy increases continually with the increase in population. An inevitable result of this is soil, water, and air pollution with diverse pollutants, including heavy metals. Synthetic Biology involves using modular, interchangeable biological parts, devices in standard chassis or whole organisms to achieve a programmed result that can be quantified and optimized till it meets the required efficiency. This makes synthetic biology techniques very popular to tackle pressing global issues such as heavy metal poisoning. This review aimed to highlight various advancements as well as benefits, risks, and problems in synthetic biology techniques for detectio

  21. Synthetic Biology Approaches for Improving Chemical Production in Cyanobacteria

    Tanner R. Treece, Jake N Gonzales, Joseph R. Pressley, et al. · 2022 · Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology · 18 citations

    Biological chemical production has gained traction in recent years as a promising renewable alternative to traditional petrochemical based synthesis. Of particular interest in the field of metabolic engineering are photosynthetic microorganisms capable of sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide. CO2 levels have continued to rise at alarming rates leading to an increasingly uncertain climate. CO2 can be sequestered by engineered photosynthetic microorganisms and used for chemical production, representing a renewable production method for valuable chemical commodities such as biofuels, plastics, and food additives. The main challenges in using photosynthetic microorganisms for chemical product

  22. Environment signal dependent biocontainment systems for engineered organisms: Leveraging triggered responses and combinatorial systems

    Shreya Varma, K. Gulati, Janani Sriramakrishnan, et al. · 2024 · Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology · 16 citations

    As synthetic biology advances, the necessity for robust biocontainment strategies for genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) grows increasingly critical to mitigate biosafety risks related to their potential environmental release. This paper aims to evaluate environment signal-dependent biocontainment systems for engineered organisms, focusing specifically on leveraging triggered responses and combinatorial systems. There are different types of triggers—chemical, light, temperature, and pH—this review illustrates how these systems can be designed to respond to environmental signals, ensuring a higher safety profile. It also focuses on combinatorial biocontainment to avoid consequences of un

  24. Nanoscale synthetic biology with innovative medicinal applications

    Jingsen Ji, Longsong Li, Weisheng Guo, et al. · 2024 · Fundamental Research · 14 citations

    The rapid advancement of synthetic biology and nanoscience has given rise to a new research field, known as nanoscale synthetic biology (NSB). This field emphasizes the interactions and coordination within entire biological systems, with the goal of achieving more efficient and controllable biological engineering through nanoscale manipulation. Nanocarriers facilitate the delivery of gene-regulating systems (such as CRISPR, mRNA, siRNA, and plasmids), nanozymes, drugs, and specific nanoprobes, enabling precise control over gene expression, modulation of biological metabolism, and monitoring of synthesized products in various organisms (including cells, bacteria, and viruses). This enables ad

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