Presenatation onSy

1. An introduction to Synthetic biology: Engineering biology
What is synthetic biology?
It is an attempt to engineer biology. It is not metablolic
engineering, it is not process engineering, it is not
cancer cell engineering..it is an approach to make those
sort of things. It is not the particular application..it is the
method or approach to utilize a particular application. To
put it in other words synthetic biology is’nt about
making a particular thing.. it is how you make
something.
Drew Endy
Professor, Stanford
University
The final goal is to be able to design biological systems in the same way
engineers design electronic or mechanical systems.

2. Why do we need it? Synthetic Biology
Cells are the ultimate Chemical Factory.

3. Is it achievable?
1- Biology is hierarchical

4. Is it achievable?
2- Biology is Modular

5. Is it achievable?
Hierarchy and Modular (recurrent) organization allows biology to be
understandable and synthetic biology to be possible.

6. A possible hierarchy for synthetic biology

7. Synthetic Biology as Engineering
Standard Parts
Parts should not have multiple functions
(One subunit of T7 phage DNA polymerase is actually E. coli
thioredoxin)
Parts should not encode multiple functions

8. Synthetic Biology as Engineering
Standard Parts
Different parts should be compatible
Parts should work in different contexts

9. Synthetic Biology as Engineering
Standard Parts
Standardized parts could be easily exchanged between different devices
(as well as between different laboratories)

10. Synthetic Biology as Engineering
Abstraction
Systems
Devices
Parts
DNA TGCATGCTGATATACGGCTCGAT
Abstraction hierarchies are a human invention designed to assist people in
engineering very complex systems by ignoring unnecessary details.

11. How the journey began…
iGEM began in 2003 when Drew Endy (now at Stanford University), Tom Knight and
several MIT students spent the month of January trying to design standardized
biological parts to create bacteria that blink on and off like a light switch.
Today, synthetic biology envisions the impossible... from bacterial photography to
biological LCD screens.
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY IS HAPPENING..AND ITS HAPPENING NOW!