Synthetic Biology : The Bridge Between Biology and Other Branches of Science

Humans are very good at making any things, they can think and apply. Did you ever think, 'How can I make the world a better place?' If Yes, Then think like these, 'What if living things are actually machines, which can be reprogramme and redesign? What if we can redesign a plant to glow like bulb? What if we become capable of making neurons, the part of the most powerful weapons in the world? What if we can programme soil microbes to symbiotically transfer nitrogen to plants with zero emission? What if we could make most efficient biodegradable plastics? What if plants can sense the toxicity level in the soil and could express it? What if perfumes are made from our own natural body sweat? What if an algae can produce gasoline?'

These thinkings are going to be real because of synthetic biology, an interdisciplinary field of science.

What is Synthetic Biology?

Synthetic Biology (SynBio) is like the combination of Science-fiction (your thinking power) and Science facts. It is a multidisciplinary field of science that involves to create new biological parts, devices, systems, and redesign systems that are already found in nature.

It’s main goal is to create artificial life for human welfare. It is the next level of genetic engineering. It mainly works with 'Genomics' which allows us to read DNA and 'CRISPR-Cas9' which allows us to edit DNA of any creatures.

(The core SynBio toolkit consists of both biological and engineering functions; Source: genengnews.com)

Did you ever read the famous book 'Frankenstein'? Where scientists Victor Frankenstein creates a sapient creature from different pieces. But in case of Synthetic Biology, it works in the genetic level, rather than the anatomical level.

However, Synthetic Biology encompasses a broad range of methodologies from various disciplines of science such as,

• biotechnology
• genetic engineering
• molecular biology
• molecular engineering
• systems biology
• membrane science
• biophysics
• chemical and biological engineering
• electrical and computer engineering
• control engineering 
• evolutionary biology.[1]

Now, we can design noble living systems and new species from a standarized genetic parts called 'Bio Bricks'. Biosensor and Biocircuits are the applications of synthetic biology. 

The Past, Present and Future of Synthetic Biology 

In 2004, first conference of synthetic biology was held at MIT. Where the importance of SynBio field was given by the scientific community. In 2005, a specialized SynBio platform 'BioBricks Foundation' was established. In 2013, sixth annual synbio conference was held in london. In 2016, a group of scientists proposed large-scale synthetic biology initiative. Which led to the creation of the Human Genome Project-Write(HGP-Write). 

(Genetically engineered mosquito larva glow in different colors depending on which mutations they carry. The firm which working on this project hopes to use engineered insects to fight mosquito-borne diseases; Source: Science.org)

Recently, scientists transplanted the entire genome of one species of bacterium into the cytoplasm of another, xenobots for cancer treatment, organoid, bioprinted organs etc by using synthetic biology. The future aspects of synthetic biology are, 

Cybergenetics and SynBio: possibility to exchange living things with computers.

SynBio in medical technologies: creates a wide range of medical applications, including drug discovery, antibody and vaccine production.

SynBio to store data: A large amount of data can be stored in a small space through ATGC code. It is possible to convert this information into computer binary code (0,1) and digitize it and make it teleletransportation.

SynBio in environmental technologies: production of biofuel, biodiesel from living things by using the techniques of synbio. 

SynBio to make artificial life: Scientists are working for creating living organism whose DNA is entirely designed by human. Scientists of UK have created an artificial version of E. coli by using the technique of Syn-Bio.

iGEM (international Genetically Engineered Machine)

The iGEM is an independent, non-profit organization which  works for the improving people's understanding about synthetic biology and the advancement of synthetic biology. Every year it arrange an academic competition aimed at undergraduate students, which develop open community, cooperative and collaborative relations between different groups.

(2018 iGEM competition; Source: iGEM.com)

The competition began in 2004 and now it has more than 300 teams competing from different countries around the world.[2]

Synthetic Biology in Bangladesh 

The concept of synthetic biology is very new in Bangladesh. Though Bangladesh has not enough resources, many start-up platforms are growing up. 'Bio Bangla' is one of them. It is a synthetic biology based start-up and learning platform first ever in Bangladesh. It's CEO Hossain Mohammad Masum, former iGEM research fellow said that, "Our mission and vision is to spread synthetic biology in Bangladesh and to prepare the young minds of our country for participating in the iGEM."

(During Bio Bangla training session)

Since its starting, the company has organized many significant courses, such as: 'CRISPR Cas-9 genome editing', 'Bio-entrepreneurship', 'Integrating Biology, design and engineering', 'python for biologists' etc. Besides it collaboratively works with Edinburgh University, The Chinese Hong Kong University (Dr switch project). 

The good and bad of Synthetic Biology 

Focusing on the current state of synthetic biology and it’s promising applications in research it can be beneficial to many sectors. But in future we will face dual-use dilemma, the beneficial and the crooked uses. It can be used for making microbial threats and bioterrorism. Which will bring change in our biodiversity and ecosystem. That could cause economical damage also.

The Five Main Research Areas of Synthetic Biology 

Here are the five major areas of SynBio research,

In silico Synthetic Biology: uses computational simulations to University  predict new biological systems.

Unnatural Molecular Biology: it is focused on altering the smallest unit of DNA, the nucleotides.

Bioengineering: This area of research deals with genes, chromosomes, and cell components that interact with DNA. Creating new proteins or protein systems is the main work of this area.

Synthetic Genomics: This area of SynBio focused on altering and manipulating whole genomes.

Protocell Synthetic Biology: This field of research aims to construct whole cells.[3]

References:

[1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology

[2] https://igem.org/

[3] https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-synthetic-biology-redesigns-life/