September 17, 2009
Synthetic biology
Wikipedia defines synthetic biology as “a new area of biological research that combines science and engineering in order to design and build (“synthesize”) novel biological functions and systems.” So, instead of cyberpunks and hackers, we get biopunks or wetware hackers. Dan Zambonini, guest posting at Lone Gunman, describes some of the current technology:
Although much of the current literature is beyond my rudimentary understanding, the idea of BioBricks seems incredible. I would describe it as a “genetic programming language”, but that doesn’t do it justice. To paraphrase the description on the website:
Using BioBrick™ … parts, [you] can … program living organisms in the same way a computer scientist can program a computer. The DNA sequence information and other characteristics of BioBrick™ standard biological parts are made available to the public free of charge currently via MIT’s Registry of Standard Biological Parts.
In other words, there’s a growing free database of ‘biological parts’ (tastes, smells, reactions, proteins) that you can piece together to ‘re-program’ existing biological systems (typically bacteria).
While I am sure many people are envisioning some creepy genius making a Lygar in his basement, BioBricks are for “reprogramming” bacteria. Screw the iPhone, this, my friends, is the future.
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3 Responses to “Synthetic biology”
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I’d be happy with a pet bacteria colony that gave off the fragrance of shortbread. I mean, growing media and some simple lab techniques have got to be cheaper than buying those damn plug-ins all the time.
The existing collection of BioBrick parts is fantastic, relative to nothing at all, but is still very far from being a mature technology platform. Much software and wetware engineering is still required simply to determine if the technical promise of the BioBricks approach will scale within the “messy molecular milleau” inside cells. Additional work in terms of defining if and how communities of responsible wetware engineers and hackers might develop and thrive needs to happen.
[...] Endy, a board member at the BioBrick foundation, commented on my last entry on synthetic biology: The existing collection of BioBrick parts is fantastic, relative to nothing at all, but is still [...]