110th Anniversary: Engineered Ribonucleic Acid Control Elements as Biosensors for in Vitro Diagnostics

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research Vol. 58; no. 37; pp. 17174 - 17181
• Main Authors: Rodríguez-Serrano, Alan F, Hsing, I-Ming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 18.09.2019
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.iecr.9b03963

Regulatory mechanisms in biological systems are analogous to process control exerted in many chemical and biomolecular engineering processes. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) has been identified as a ubiquitous element for tight regulation of cellular activities, such as gene expression, given its high tunability of structures and functions. Enhanced understanding of interactions of RNA with nucleic acids, proteins, and small molecules has enabled programming of robust gene circuits for detection of specific target analytes and signal transduction. Bottom up approaches in synthetic biology have developed in silico engineered RNA modules to work as biosensors for nucleic acids in vitro detection. In this review, we describe light-up aptamers and toehold switches as exciting examples of RNA engineered modules that were inspired by evolution and process control in biological organisms. We emphasize how the programmability of these elements has empowered the assembly circuitry to sense and compute information relevant for biomedical applications.