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This book provides a comprehensive overview of genomics and its diverse applications. Chapters cover genomics data generation methods, computational tools, gene annotation, transcriptomics, DNA barcoding, next-generation sequencing, functional genomics, metagenomics, synthetic genomics, microarray analysis, nutrigenomics, genome editing, and more. This book offers a valuable source of information for not only beginners in genomics, but also for students, researchers, scientists, clinicians, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders who are interested in harnessing the potential of genomics in many areas.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction and review of state-of-the-art biotechnological tools in enhancement of bioactive compounds in medicinal and aromatic plants. Plant bioactive compounds are plant-based natural products that display a variety of pharmacological applications. These bioactive compounds are important as medicines, pigments, flavorings and drugs because most of the pharmaceutical industries are highly dependent on medicinal plants and their extraction. The book introduces a systematic overview of state-of-the-art biotechnological techniques such as Omics, Crisper /Cas9 and RNAi to enhance the plant bioactive contents as well as enlists various in vitro techniques, hairy root culture and transgenic technology to enhance plant bioactive contents using plant tissue culture approaches. The book also provides an overview of the role of induced mutation, biotic and abiotic stress to increase the bioactive contents in plants and discusses the significant role of endophytes to enhance the contents of plant bioactive compound. The book also opens discussions related to standard operating procedures using hydroponics system of cultivation for significant enhancement of bioactive compound(s) and much more. This book serves as an excellent reference book for the researchers working in the field of plant secondary metabolites and pharmaceutical industries at global level.

Honorable Mention, 2024 Richard Frisbie Award for Adult Nonfiction, Society of Midland AuthorsA new science is reengineering the fabric of life. Synthetic biology offers bold new ways of manufacturing medicines, clothing, foods, fragrances, and fuels, often using microbe fermentation, much like brewing beer. The technology can help confront climate change, break down industrial pollutants, and fight novel viruses. Today, researchers are manipulating life forms and automating evolution to create vegetarian “meat,” renewable construction materials, and cancer treatments. In the process, they are changing our concept of what life science can achieve. Is this a new industrial and information revolution—or dangerous tinkering that could unleash unintended consequences?Programmable Planet is a grand tour through the world of synthetic biology, telling the stories of the colorful visionaries whose ideas are shaping discoveries. Ted Anton explores the field from its beginning in fighting malaria in Africa to the COVID vaccines and beyond. Covering medical and agricultural triumphs and blunders, he examines successes in energy production, plant gene editing, and chemical manufacturing, as well as the most controversial attempts at human gene enhancement. This book reports from the front lines of research, showing policy makers'struggle to stay abreast of the technologies they aim to regulate. Even-handed, lively, and informative, Programmable Planet gives a glimpse of the promise and problems of a new biology-based industry.

This book highlights the recent advances in the field of microbial engineering and its application in human healthcare. It underscores the systemic and synthetic biology approaches for engineering microbes and discusses novel treatments for inflammatory bowel diseases based on engineered probiotics. The book also reviews the different options and methods for engineering microbes, ranging from recombinant DNA technology to designing microbes for targeting specific sites and delivering therapeutics. Further, it discusses genetically engineered microorganisms for smart diagnostics and describes current approaches in microbial gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9-based tools. Lastly, it summarizes the potential applications of human microbiome engineering in improving human health and explores potential strategies for scaling-up the production of engineered microbial strains for commercial purposes, as well as the challenges. Given its scope, this book is a valuable resource for students, researchers, academics and entrepreneurs interested in understanding microbial engineering for the production of commercial products.

This book reviews new promising drug targets for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), with a special focus on antiprotozoal drugs against trpyanosomatids Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania spp. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the most recent studied targets, and it outlines classical and new treatments and delivery strategies. Expert contributors describe new methods of analysis and bio-prospecting for new compounds, and provide a critical perspective of the translational process used in the research and development of new drug candidates. The book will appeal not only to researchers, students and professionals interested in drug development to protozoan diseases, but also to medicinal chemists in general.

New Frontiers and Applications of Synthetic Biology presents a collection of chapters from eminent synthetic biologists across the globe who have established experience and expertise working with synthetic biology. This book offers several important areas of synthetic biology which allow us to read and understand easily. It covers the introduction of synthetic biology and design of promoter, new DNA synthesis and sequencing technology, genome assembly, minimal cells, small synthetic RNA, directed evolution, protein engineering, computational tools, de novo synthesis, phage engineering, a sensor for microorganisms, next-generation diagnostic tools, CRISPR-Cas systems, and more. This book is a good source for not only researchers in designing synthetic biology, but also for researchers, students, synthetic biologists, metabolic engineers, genome engineers, clinicians, industrialists, stakeholders and policymakers interested in harnessing the potential of synthetic biology in many areas. - Offers basic understanding and knowledge in several aspects of synthetic biology - Covers state-of-the-art tools and technologies of synthetic biology, including promoter design, DNA synthesis, DNA sequencing, genome design, directed evolution, protein engineering, computational tools, phage design, CRISPR-Cas systems, and more - Discusses the applications of synthetic biology for smart drugs, vaccines, therapeutics, drug discovery, self-assembled materials, cell free systems, microfluidics, and more

This book presents the applications of systems biology and synthetic biology in cancer medicine. It highlights the use of computational and mathematical models to decipher the complexity of cancer heterogeneity. The book emphasizes the modeling approaches for predicting behavior of cancer cells, tissues in context of drug response, and angiogenesis. It introduces cell-based therapies for the treatment of various cancers and reviews the role of neural networks for drug response prediction. Further, it examines the system biology approaches for the identification of medicinal plants in cancer drug discovery. It explores the opportunities for metabolic engineering in the realm of cancer research towards development of new cancer therapies based on metabolically derived targets. Lastly, it discusses the applications of data mining techniques in cancer research. This book is an excellent guide for oncologists and researchers who are involved in the latest cancer research.

Modern biotechnologies give us unprecedented control of the fundamental building blocks of life. For designers, across a range of disciplines, emerging fields such as synthetic biology offer the promise of new sustainable materials and structures which may be grown, are self-assembling, self-healing and adaptable to change. While there is a thriving speculative discourse on the future of design in the age of biotechnology, there are few realized design applications.This book, the first in the Bio Design series, acts as a bridge between design speculation and scientific reality and between contemporary design thinking, in areas such as architecture, product design and fashion design, and the traditional engineering approaches which currently dominate biotechnologies. Filled with real examples, Living Construction reveals how living cells construct and transform materials through methods of fabrication and assembly at multiple scales and how designers can utilize these processes.

How can we accelerate the development of vaccines? How do we feed three billion people when 12 million died of hunger in 2019? Does synthetic biology hold the answer? With all the advances in science in the last century, why are there still so many infectious diseases? Why haven't we found cures for difficult cancers? Why hasn't any major progress been made in the treatment of mental illness? And how do we intend to stop, and not only that but reverse, global warming and the climate crisis? In Saved by Science, scientist Mark Poznansky examines the many crises facing humanity while encouraging us with the promise of an emerging solution: synthetic biology. This is the science of building simple organisms, or “biological apps,” to make manufacturing greener energy production more sustainable, agriculture more robust, and medicine more powerful and precise. Synthetic biology is the marriage of the digital revolution with a revolution in biology and genomics; some have even called it “the fourth industrial revolution.” Accessible and informative, Saved by Science provides readers with hope for the future if we trust in and support the future of science.

This book addresses the design of emerging conceptual tools, technologies and systems including novel synthetic parts, devices, circuits, oscillators, biological gates, and small regulatory RNAs (riboregulators and riboswitches), which serve as versatile control elements for regulating gene expression. Synthetic biology, a rapidly growing field that involves the application of engineering principles in biology, is now being used to develop novel systems for a wide range of applications including diagnostics, cell reprogramming, therapeutics, enzymes, vaccines, biomaterials, biofuels, fine chemicals and many more. The book subsequently summarizes recent developments in technologies for assembling synthetic genomes, minimal genomes, synthetic biology toolboxes, CRISPR-Cas systems, cell-free protein synthesis systems and microfluidics. Accordingly, it offers a valuable resource not only for beginners in synthetic biology, but also for researchers, students, scientists, clinicians, stakeholders and policymakers interested in the potential held by synthetic biology.

This book explores fascinating topics at the edge of life, guiding the reader all the way from the relation of life processes to the second law of thermodynamics and the abundance of complex organic compounds in the universe through to the latest advances in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. The background to the book is the extraordinary scientific adventures that are being undertaken as progress is made toward the creation of an artificial cell and the control of life processes. This journey involves input from research areas as diverse as genetic engineering, physical chemistry, and information theory. Life is to be thought of not only as a chemical event but also as an information process, with the genome a repository of information gathered over time through evolution. Knowledge of the mechanisms affecting the increase in complexity associated with evolutionary paths is improving, and there appear to be analogies with the evolution of the technologies promoting the development of our society. The book will be of wide interest to students at all levels and to others with an interest in the subject.

This book review series presents current trends in modern biotechnology. The aim is to cover all aspects of this interdisciplinary technology where knowledge, methods and expertise are required from chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, chemical engineering and computer science.Volumes are organized topically and provide a comprehensive discussion of developments in the respective field over the past 3-5 years. The series also discusses new discoveries and applications. Special volumes are dedicated to selected topics which focus on new biotechnological products and new processes for their synthesis and purification.In general, special volumes are edited by well-known guest editors. The series editor and publisher will however always be pleased to receive suggestions and supplementary information. Manuscripts are accepted in English.

The book uses an integrated approach to predict the behavior of various biological interactions. It further discusses how synthetic biology gathers the information about various systems, in order to either devise an entirely new system, or, to modulate existing systems. The book also tackles the concept of modularity, where biological systems are visualized in terms of their parts.The chapters discuss how the principles of engineering are being used in biomedical sciences, to design biological circuits that can harbor multiple inputs and generate multiple outputs; to create genetic networks and control gene activity, in order to generate a desired response. The book aims to help the readers develop an array of biological parts, and to use these parts to develop synthetic circuits that can be assembled like electronic circuits. The ultimate aim of the book will be to serve as an amalgamation of key ideas of how judiciously synthetic biology could be exploited in therapeutic device and delivery mechanism.

Building on an increasingly sophisticated understanding of naturally occurring biological processes, researchers have developed technologies to predictably modify or create organisms or biological components. This research, known collectively as synthetic biology, is being pursued for a variety of purposes, from reducing the burden of disease to improving agricultural yields to remediating pollution. While synthetic biology is being pursued primarily for beneficial and legitimate purposes, it is possible to imagine malicious uses that could threaten human health or military readiness and performance. Making informed decisions about how to address such concerns requires a comprehensive, realistic assessment. To this end, the U.S. Department of Defense, working with other agencies involved in biodefense, asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to develop a framework to guide an assessment of the security concerns related to advances in synthetic biology, to assess the level of concern warranted for various advances and identify areas of vulnerability, and to prioritize options to address these vulnerabilities. This interim report proposes a framework for identifying and prioritizing potential areas of concern associated with synthetic biology—a tool to aid the consideration of concerns related to synthetic biology. The framework describes categories of synthetic biology technologies and applications—such as genome editing, directed evolution, and automated biological design—and provides a set of initial questions to guide the assessment of concern related to these technologies and applications.

In the final years of the twentieth century, émigrés from engineering and computer science devoted themselves to biology and resolved that if the aim of biology is to understand life, then making life would yield better theories than experimentation. Armed with the latest biotechnology techniques, these scientists treated biological media as elements for design and manufacture: viruses named for computers, bacterial genomes encoding passages from James Joyce, chimeric yeast buckling under the metabolic strain of genes harvested from wormwood, petunias, and microbes from Icelandic thermal pools. In Synthetic: How Life Got Made, cultural anthropologist Sophia Roosth reveals how synthetic biologists make new living things in order to understand better how life works. The first book-length ethnographic study of this discipline, Synthetic documents the social, cultural, rhetorical, economic, and imaginative transformations biology has undergone in the post-genomic age. Roosth traces this new science from its origins at MIT to start-ups, laboratories, conferences, and hackers'garages across the United States—even to contemporary efforts to resurrect extinct species. Her careful research reveals that rather than opening up a limitless new field, these biologists'own experimental tactics circularly determine the biological features, theories, and limits they fasten upon. Exploring the life sciences emblematic of our time, Synthetic tells the origin story of the astonishing claim that biological making fosters biological knowing.

This book introduces students to methods that will help them understand behaviour in terms of cellular components and their interactions in non-intuitive ways, which calls for an interdisciplinary approach combining mathematical, chemical, computational and biological strategies. Tibor Ganti was one of the early pioneers who proposed a theoretical framework to understand living principles in terms of chemical transformation cycles and their coupling. The twenty-first century then brought with it a novel ‘systems'paradigm, which shone new light on all previous work and was accompanied by numerous implications for the way we conceive of chemical and biological complexity today. This book seeks to equip students to take advantage of any field that investigates living systems. Based on a conceptualisation of science-oriented branches, engineering-oriented branches and biology as astoundingly complex fields, those structures laden with biochemical detail encompass a deeper theory unifying our knowledge of designed systems. Readers will be pleasantly surprised at how lucidly the topics are presented. The book offers an indispensable resource for students and professionals working in systems and synthetic biology or any of the various related fields of research.

This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the opportunities and challenges of the complex field of synthetic biology, which combines various scientific disciplines. The emerging field of synthetic biology employs biotechnological approaches to recreate and enhance basic biological structures, intracellular processes and whole organisms. The book addresses a broad range of topics, including redesigning complex metabolic pathways, DNA/RNA and protein engineering, as well as novel synthetic biomaterials. It discusses both “bottom up” and “top down” approaches and presents the latest genome engineering tools with predictions about how these could change our way of thinking and working. Since the use of synthetic biology raises a number of ethical questions, a chapter is devoted to public awareness and risk management.The book is of interest to scientists from both academia and industry, as well as PhD students and postdocs working in the field

Synthetische Biologie wird als vielversprechende Zukunftstechnikwissenschaft angesehen. Sie zielt darauf ab, Ingenieursprinzipien in der Biologie zu verwirklichen. Mit der Vision von umfassender Planbarkeit und allgemeiner Konstruierbarkeit grenzt sie sich von der nur manipulierenden Gentechnik ab. Offen ist bisher, ob diese Vision realisiert werden kann. Ebenso unbestimmt sind derzeit mögliche Folgen für Gesellschaft, Mensch und Natur. Dieses frühe Stadium eröffnet aber Optionen, Einfluss auf ihre Entwicklung zu nehmen: um Chancen zu realisieren und Risiken zu minimieren.Dieses Buch stellt die prägenden Visionen, Modelle und Methoden, die sich unter dem Dach der Synthetischen Biologie gruppieren, im Überblick vor. So können die sich eröffnenden Möglichkeiten frühzeitig analysiert und kritisch bewertet werden. Die mit ihnen verbundenen Chancen und Risiken werden in vier Fallstudien untersucht, wobei auch wenig beachtete Bereiche in den Blick rücken wie etwa biomimetische Werkstoffe: Technik, die am Vorbild der Natur orientiert ist. Basierend auf einer gleichermaßen gesellschaftlich orientierten wie technikbezogenen Bewertung werden gefährdungsarme Entwicklungspfade sichtbar.

This textbook has been conceptualized to provide a detailed description of the various aspects of Systems and Synthetic Biology, keeping the requirements of M.Sc. and Ph.D. students in mind. Also, it is hoped that this book will mentor young scientists who are willing to contribute to this area but do not know from where to begin. The book has been divided into two sections. The first section will deal with systems biology – in terms of the foundational understanding, highlighting issues in biological complexity, methods of analysis and various aspects of modelling. The second section deals with the engineering concepts, design strategies of the biological systems ranging from simple DNA/RNA fragments, switches and oscillators, molecular pathways to a complete synthetic cell will be described. Finally, the book will offer expert opinions in legal, safety, security and social issues to present a well-balanced information both for students and scientists.

A Harvard biologist and master inventor explores how new biotechnologies will enable us to bring species back from the dead, unlock vast supplies of renewable energy, and extend human life. In Regenesis, George Church and science writer Ed Regis explore the possibilities of the emerging field of synthetic biology. Synthetic biology, in which living organisms are selectively altered by modifying substantial portions of their genomes, allows for the creation of entirely new species of organisms. These technologies-far from the out-of-control nightmare depicted in science fiction-have the power to improve human and animal health, increase our intelligence, enhance our memory, and even extend our life span. A breathtaking look at the potential of this world-changing technology, Regenesis is nothing less than a guide to the future of life.

As synthetic biology transforms living matter into a medium for making, what is the role of design and its associated values? Synthetic biology manipulates the stuff of life. For synthetic biologists, living matter is programmable material. In search of carbon-neutral fuels, sustainable manufacturing techniques, and innovative drugs, these researchers aim to redesign existing organisms and even construct completely novel biological entities. Some synthetic biologists see themselves as designers, inventing new products and applications. But if biology is viewed as a malleable, engineerable, designable medium, what is the role of design and how will its values apply?In this book, synthetic biologists, artists, designers, and social scientists investigate synthetic biology and design. After chapters that introduce the science and set the terms of the discussion, the book follows six boundary-crossing collaborations between artists and designers and synthetic biologists from around the world, helping us understand what it might mean to'design nature.'These collaborations have resulted in biological computers that calculate form; speculative packaging that builds its own contents; algae that feeds on circuit boards; and a sampling of human cheeses. They raise intriguing questions about the scientific process, the delegation of creativity, our relationship to designed matter, and, the importance of critical engagement. Should these projects be considered art, design, synthetic biology, or something else altogether?Synthetic biology is driven by its potential; some of these projects are fictions, beyond the current capabilities of the technology. Yet even as fictions, they help illuminate, question, and even shape the future of the field.

The complexity of biological systems has intrigued scientists from many disciplines and has given birth to the highly influential field of systems biology wherein a wide array of mathematical techniques, such as flux balance analysis, and technology platforms, such as next generation sequencing, is used to understand, elucidate, and predict the functions of complex biological systems. More recently, the field of synthetic biology, i.e., de novo engineering of biological systems, has emerged. Scientists from various fields are focusing on how to render this engineering process more predictable, reliable, scalable, affordable, and easy. Systems and control theory is a branch of engineering and applied sciences that rigorously deals with the complexities and uncertainties of interconnected systems with the objective of characterising fundamental systemic properties such as stability, robustness, communication capacity, and other performance metrics. Systems and control theory also strives to offer concepts and methods that facilitate the design of systems with rigorous guarantees on these properties. Over the last 100 years, it has made stellar theoretical and technological contributions in diverse fields such as aerospace, telecommunication, storage, automotive, power systems, and others. Can it have, or evolve to have, a similar impact in biology? The chapters in this book demonstrate that, indeed, systems and control theoretic concepts and techniques can have a significant impact in systems and synthetic biology. Volume II contains chapters contributed by leading researchers in the field of systems and synthetic biology that concern modeling physiological processes and bottom-up constructions of scalable biological systems. The modeling problems include characterisation and synthesis of memory, understanding how homoeostasis is maintained in the face of shocks and relatively gradual perturbations,understanding the functioning and robustness of biological clocks such as those at the core of circadian rhythms, and understanding how the cell cycles can be regulated, among others. Some of the bottom-up construction problems investigated in Volume II are as follows: How should biomacromolecules, platforms, and scalable architectures be chosen and synthesised in order to build programmable de novo biological systems? What are the types of constrained optimisation problems encountered in this process and how can these be solved efficiently? As the eminent computer scientist Donald Knuth put it,'biology easily has 500 years of exciting problems to work on'. This edited book presents but a small fraction of those for the benefit of (1) systems and control theorists interested in molecular and cellular biology and (2) biologists interested in rigorous modelling, analysis and control of biological systems.

The complexity of biological systems has intrigued scientists from many disciplines and has given birth to the highly influential field of systems biology wherein a wide array of mathematical techniques, such as flux balance analysis, and technology platforms, such as next generation sequencing, is used to understand, elucidate, and predict the functions of complex biological systems. More recently, the field of synthetic biology, i.e., de novo engineering of biological systems, has emerged. Scientists from various fields are focusing on how to render this engineering process more predictable, reliable, scalable, affordable, and easy. Systems and control theory is a branch of engineering and applied sciences that rigorously deals with the complexities and uncertainties of interconnected systems with the objective of characterising fundamental systemic properties such as stability, robustness, communication capacity, and other performance metrics. Systems and control theory also strives to offer concepts and methods that facilitate the design of systems with rigorous guarantees on these properties. Over the last 100 years, it has made stellar theoretical and technological contributions in diverse fields such as aerospace, telecommunication, storage, automotive, power systems, and others. Can it have, or evolve to have, a similar impact in biology? The chapters in this book demonstrate that, indeed, systems and control theoretic concepts and techniques can have a significant impact in systems and synthetic biology. Volume I provides a panoramic view that illustrates the potential of such mathematical methods in systems and synthetic biology. Recent advances in systems and synthetic biology have clearly demonstrated the benefits of a rigorous and systematic approach rooted in the principles of systems and control theory - not only does it lead to exciting insights and discoveries but it also reduces theinordinately lengthy trial-and-error process of wet-lab experimentation, thereby facilitating significant savings in human and financial resources. In Volume I, some of the leading researchers in the field of systems and synthetic biology demonstrate how systems and control theoretic concepts and techniques can be useful, or should evolve to be useful, in order to understand how biological systems function. As the eminent computer scientist Donald Knuth put it,'biology easily has 500 years of exciting problems to work on'. This edited book presents but a small fraction of those for the benefit of (1) systems and control theorists interested in molecular and cellular biology and (2) biologists interested in rigorous modelling, analysis and control of biological systems.

Synthetic biology—unlike any research discipline that precedes it—has the potential to bypass the less predictable process of evolution to usher in a new and dynamic way of working with living systems. Ultimately, synthetic biologists hope to design and build engineered biological systems with capabilities that do not exist in natural systems—capabilities that may ultimately be used for applications in manufacturing, food production, and global health. Importantly, synthetic biology represents an area of science and engineering that raises technical, ethical, regulatory, security, biosafety, intellectual property, and other issues that will be resolved differently in different parts of the world. As a better understanding of the global synthetic biology landscape could lead to tremendous benefits, six academies—the United Kingdom's Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering, the United States'National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, and the Chinese Academy of Science and Chinese Academy of Engineering—organized a series of international symposia on the scientific, technical, and policy issues associated with synthetic biology. Positioning Synthetic Biology to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century summarizes the symposia proceedings.

​Understanding the general laws of an effective system for the transport of substances in cells is an important goal of systems and synthetic biology and will help us to answer why the transport subsystem of a cell is arranged as it is. In addition, the construction of models for optimizing transport systems is of considerable importance in the early stages in the development of a functioning protocell. The aim of this book is to describe the latest techniques for the calculation of the optimal parameters of the transport subsystem of a cell at its maximum efficiency. The book will describe linear and nonlinear programming, dynamic programming, game theory for models of ion transport in different types of cells (e.g. mammalian cells, bacteria, plants and fungi). ​

Bill Gates recently told Wired that if he were a teenager today, he would be hacking biology.'If you want to change the world in some big way,'he says,'that's where you should start-biological molecules.'The most disruptive force on the planet resides in DNA. Biotech companies and academic researchers are just beginning to unlock the potential of piecing together life from scratch. Champions of synthetic biology believe that turning genetic code into Lego-like blocks to build never-before-seen organisms could solve the thorniest challenges in medicine, energy, and environmental protection. But as the hackers who cracked open the potential of the personal computer and the Internet proved, the most revolutionary discoveries often emerge from out-of-the-way places, forged by brilliant outsiders with few resources besides boundless energy and great ideas. In Biopunk, Marcus Wohlsen chronicles a growing community of DIY scientists working outside the walls of corporations and universities who are committed to democratizing DNA the way the Internet did information. The'biohacking'movement, now in its early, heady days, aims to unleash an outbreak of genetically modified innovation by making the tools and techniques of biotechnology accessible to everyone. Borrowing their idealism from the worlds of open-source software, artisinal food, Internet startups, and the Peace Corps, biopunks are devoted advocates for open-sourcing the basic code of life. They believe in the power of individuals with access to DNA to solve the world's biggest problems. You'll meet a new breed of hackers who aren't afraid to get their hands wet, from entrepreneurs who aim to bring DNA-based medical tools to the poorest of the poor to a curious tinkerer who believes a tub of yogurt and a jellyfish gene could protect the world's food supply. These biohackers include: -A duo who started a cancer drug company in their kitchen -A team who built an open-source DNA copy machine -A woman who developed a genetic test in her apartment for a deadly disease that had stricken her family Along with the potential of citizen science to bring about disruptive change, Wohlsen explores the risks of DIY bioterrorism, the possibility of genetic engineering experiments gone awry, and whether the ability to design life from scratch on a laptop might come sooner than we think.

Eine wirtschaftliche und einfache Herstellung komplexer Moleküle für maßgeschneiderte Werkstoffe, Arzneimittel oder auch Treibstoffe, dazu neue Methoden für Forschungszweige wie Biomedizin, Materialwissenschaft oder Katalyseforschung: Die Liste potenzieller Anwendungen der Synthetischen Biologie, einer Forschungsrichtung zwischen Molekularbiologie, Organischer Chemie, Nanobiotechnologie und Informationstechnik, ist lang. Ausgehend von der bereits großen Bedeutung der Biotechnologie in der chemischen Industrie könnte es in den nächsten Jahren zu einer regelrechten Biologisierung der Wirtschaft kommen. Die neue Technikwissenschaft an der Grenze von Biologie und Technik übt eine große Faszination aus, die dieser Band weitergeben möchte - freilich ohne die Herausforderungen auszublenden.

Synthetic biology is an innovative and growing field that unites engineering and biology. It builds on the powerful research that came about as a result of a recombinant DNA technology and genome sequencing. By definition, synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary enterprise comprising biologists of many specialties, engineers, physicists, computer scientists and others. It promises a fundamentally deeper understanding of how living systems work and the capacity to recreate them for medicine, public health and the environment, including renewable energy. NAKFI Synthetic Biology: Building a Nation's Inspiration discusses new foundational technologies and tools required to make biology easier to engineer, considers ethical issues unique to synthetic biology, explores how synthetic biology can lead to an understanding of the principles underlying natural genetic circuits and debates how synthetic biology can be used to answer fundamental biological questions.