Research abstract
Perspective abstract
Nature Biotechnology 26, 787 - 793 (2008)
Published online: 8 July 2008 | doi:10.1038/nbt1413
Refinement and standardization of synthetic biological parts and devices
Barry Canton1,4, Anna Labno2,3,4 & Drew Endy1
Abstract
The ability to quickly and reliably engineer many-component systems from libraries of standard interchangeable parts is one hallmark of modern technologies. Whether the apparent complexity of living systems will permit biological engineers to develop similar capabilities is a pressing research question. We propose to adapt existing frameworks for describing engineered devices to biological objects in order to (i) direct the refinement and use of biological 'parts' and 'devices', (ii) support research on enabling reliable composition of standard biological parts and (iii) facilitate the development of abstraction hierarchies that simplify biological engineering. We use the resulting framework to describe one engineered biological device, a genetically encoded cell-cell communication receiver named BBa_F2620. The description of the receiver is summarized via a 'datasheet' similar to those widely used in engineering. The process of refinement and characterization leading to the BBa_F2620 datasheet may serve as a starting template for producing many standardized genetically encoded objects.
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., 68-580, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
- Departments of Biology and Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., 68-580, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
- Present address: Biophysics Graduate Group, MC 3200, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
- These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Drew Endy1 e-mail: endy@mit.edu
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
TCR avidity: it's not how strong you make it, it's how you make it strongNature Immunology News and Views (01 Aug 2001)
Setting the standard in synthetic biologyNature Biotechnology News and Views (01 Jul 2008)
See all 3 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
Crystal structure of human osteoclast cathepsin K complex with E-64Nature Structural Biology Correspondence (01 Feb 1997)
Environmental signal integration by a modular AND gateMolecular Systems Biology Article (14 Aug 2007)
See all 9 matches for Research
