Synthetic Biology: Engineering Living Systems from Biophysical Principles

Synthetic biology was founded as a biophysical discipline that sought explanations for the origins of life from chemical and physical first principles. Modern synthetic biology has been reinvented as an engineering discipline to design new organisms as well as to better understand fundamental biolog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBiophysical journal Vol. 112; no. 6; pp. 1050 - 1058
Main Authors Bartley, Bryan A., Kim, Kyung, Medley, J. Kyle, Sauro, Herbert M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 28.03.2017
Biophysical Society
The Biophysical Society
Subjects
Biology
Biophysical
Biophysical Phenomena
Biophysics
Comparative analysis
Evolution, Molecular
First principles
Genetic Engineering
Stochastic Processes
Synthetic Biology - methods
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Summary:Synthetic biology was founded as a biophysical discipline that sought explanations for the origins of life from chemical and physical first principles. Modern synthetic biology has been reinvented as an engineering discipline to design new organisms as well as to better understand fundamental biological mechanisms. However, success is still largely limited to the laboratory and transformative applications of synthetic biology are still in their infancy. Here, we review six principles of living systems and how they compare and contrast with engineered systems. We cite specific examples from the synthetic biology literature that illustrate these principles and speculate on their implications for further study. To fully realize the promise of synthetic biology, we must be aware of life’s unique properties.
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ISSN:0006-3495
1542-0086
DOI:10.1016/j.bpj.2017.02.013