What is Synthetic Biology?

ELECTRICAL engineering solution

MECHANICAL engineering solution water = weight water<weight

BIOLOGICAL engineering solution

BIOLOGICAL engineering solution

BIOLOGICAL engineering solution

A biological machine Just using standard PPT template for this storyboard. This slide will help me introduce the idea of existing molecules acting as machines

The instructions for the machine Genes are the instructions/blueprint for the molecular machines

Figure 20.1 An overview of how bacterial plasmids are used to clone genes

Genetic engineering involves moving existing genes from one organism to another. So, this is what genetic engineering is but…

Synthetic biology involves constructing new genetic systems and turning cells into biological machines Synthetic biology takes it a step further. New genes? New Genomes?

A bacterial photograph Bacteria engineered to change color based on light Bacteria taking a picture. Product of SB procedures. Will explain more verbally

Can we use SB to grow houses?

A LIVING HOUSE - Terreform’s Fab Tree Hab

Or… Bacteria that can test for Arsenic in water Bacterial computers Bacteria that detect mines Yogurt that cleans teeth These are not possible by evolution

Engineered bacteria to change color based on light Engineered bacteria to change color based on light. Evolution didn’t do this! Engineers did… And they have… They have made bacterial photographs. And they have…

Engineered bacteria that can change color in the presence of heavy metals. Produced genetic circuits that may be useful in bacterial computing. Created cells with synthesized genomes. And reprogrammed the genetic code.

Synthetic biology is engineering How is engineering different from science? SB is more an engineering discipline than a biological one

Synthetic Biology Standardization Abstraction Synthesis PCR Genetic Engineering Synthetic Biology Sequencing rDNA Synthesis Abstraction Standardization A+A+C+T+T… This slide continues the earlier one and relates to the Endy vid Change pics as in earlier slide

What can we do with SB?

Abstraction -- a term borrowed from software engineering to indicate the management of complexity inherent to biological parts and the systems made with them. Abstraction simplifies components by hiding, or "black boxing" information, facilitating their use and re-use

Abstraction Hierarchy This and following slides will elaborate on the abstraction hierachy

Another way of looking at it. Both slides relate biology to engineering

Part -- a nucleic acid-encoded biological function

Parts Parts are promoters, ribosome binding sites, open reading frames, stop sequences. The parts of the operon or gene. The engineers have characterized and catalogued many of these. By standardizing them, they can be mixed and matched. Here we see how the lac operon can have parts removed and assembled to create a genetic device that can be used as an enzyme assay.

promoter Ribosome binding site

Device -- an engineered genetic object that produces a human-defined function under specified conditions. Devices are produced by combining one or more standard biological part

Eau d’coli

System- an engineered genetic object that produces a human-defined function under specified conditions. Systems are produced by combining one or more standard biological Device.

Standardization a series of assembly and characterization rules. In time, these standards may allow the reliable physical and functional assembly of genetic parts into devices, and devices into systems

Standard Assembly Not sure if will use Std functional assembly???

An engineering paradigm Design Build Test

What precisely is the problem or opportunity you are focusing on? How clear are you on an approach to make a dent in the problem? What if your project is fully successful? How big a difference could it make? What concerns will it raise? What other technologies can be used/have been used to address this area? What don't you know? How big are the gaps in what you know? How much is completely unknown or unknowable?