Synthetic biology for environmental and industrial applications

Synthetic biology is a rapidly expanding field of research which uses engineering principles to design and construct nucleic acid-encoded biological parts, devices, systems, machines, and organisms. It provides a toolkit for a wide variety of challenges, such as the production of fuels, chemicals and improved materials, as well as the extraction of value from primary resources and waste. Synthetic biology tools can also be used for nature conservation, remediation of contaminated sites, sensing and monitoring contaminants, and control of invasive species. This Collection focusses on environmental and industrial applications of synthetic biology.