Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
fig. 10.2. Top-down synthetic
biology (synbio) uses genes or
other components of exist-
ing organisms to generate radi-
cally new forms of life. here
“minimal genome” represents
the bare essential genetic in-
formation needed to maintain
microbial life. The minimal
genome serves as a chassis upon
which to add genetic elements
from diverse sources that work
together to direct the activities
of a new life form.
to construct artificial gene circuits that function inside living cells and in-
struct them to do new things. it's like putting new software into a com-
puter. Combinations of sBPs comprise the “software,” cells themselves are
the “hardware,” and inserting the former into the latter commandeers cells
to do the bidding of the software creators.
likened to lego bricks, sPBs are dubbed BioBricks.
6
each BioBrick is
customized to join to other BioBricks in certain conformations. some Bio-
Bricks are derived from living cells, while others are of purely human de-
sign. The ultimate aim is to assemble a collection of BioBricks large and
diverse enough to allow the construction of almost any imaginable genetic
outcome.
other researchers, notably, Craig venter of private and personal hu-
man Genome Project fame (chapter 4; venter et al. 2001), work to cus-
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