Synthetic biology biosensors for healthcare and industrial biotechnology applications

Author(s):  
K.M. Polizzi ◽  
P.S. Freemont
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-Wen Ye ◽  
Guo-Qiang Chen

Abstract With the rapid development of systems and synthetic biology, the non-model bacteria, Halomonas spp., have been developed recently to become a cost-competitive platform for producing a variety of products including polyesters, chemicals and proteins owing to their contamination resistance and ability of high cell density growth at alkaline pH and high salt concentration. These salt-loving microbes can partially solve the challenges of current industrial biotechnology (CIB) which requires high energy-consuming sterilization to prevent contamination as CIB is based on traditional chassis, typically, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas putida and Corynebacterium glutamicum. The advantages and current status of Halomonas spp. including their molecular biology and metabolic engineering approaches as well as their applications are reviewed here. Moreover, a systematic strain engineering streamline, including product-based host development, genetic parts mining, static and dynamic optimization of modularized pathways and bioprocess-inspired cell engineering are summarized. All of these developments result in the term called next-generation industrial biotechnology (NGIB). Increasing efforts are made to develop their versatile cell factories powered by synthetic biology to demonstrate a new biomanufacturing strategy under open and continuous processes with significant cost-reduction on process complexity, energy, substrates and fresh water consumption.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baudoin Delépine ◽  
Thomas Duigou ◽  
Pablo Carbonell ◽  
Jean-Loup Faulon

AbstractSynthetic biology applied to industrial biotechnology is transforming the way we produce chemicals. However, despite advances in the scale and scope of metabolic engineering, the bioproduction process still remains costly. In order to expand the chemical repertoire for the production of next generation compounds, a major engineering biology effort is required in the development of novel design tools that target chemical diversity through rapid and predictable protocols. Addressing that goal involves retrosynthesis approaches that explore the chemical biosynthetic space. However, the complexity associated with the large combinatorial retrosynthesis design space has often been recognized as the main challenge hindering the approach. Here, we provide RetroPath2.0, an automated open source workflow for retrosynthesis based on generalized reaction rules that perform the retrosynthesis search from chassis to target through an efficient and well-controlled protocol. Its easiness of use and the versatility of its applications make of this tool a valuable addition into the biological engineer bench desk. We show through several examples the application of the workflow to biotechnological relevant problems, including the identification of alternative biosynthetic routes through enzyme promiscuity; or the development of biosensors. We demonstrate in that way the ability of the workflow to streamline retrosynthesis pathway design and its major role in reshaping the design, build, test and learn pipeline by driving the process toward the objective of optimizing bioproduction. The RetroPath2.0 workflow is built using tools developed by the bioinformatics and cheminformatics community, because it is open source we anticipate community contributions will likely expand further the features of the workflow.HighlightsState-of-the-art Computer-Aided Design retrosynthesis solutions lack open source and ease of useWe propose RetroPath2.0 a modular and open-source workflow to perform retrosynthesisRetroPath2.0 computes reaction network between Source and Sink sets of compoundsRetroPath2.0 is distributed as a KNIME workflow for desktop computersRetroPath2.0 is ready-for-use and distributed with reaction rulesFundingThis work was supported by the French National Research Agency [ANR-15-CE1-0008], the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Centre for synthetic biology of fine and speciality chemicals [BB/M017702/1]; Synthetic Biology Applications for Protective Materials [EP/N025504/1], and GIP Genopole.


2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 692-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Fletcher ◽  
Susan Rosser ◽  
Alistair Elfick

The Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology ('SynthSys') was originally established in 2007 as the Centre for Integrative Systems Biology, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Today, SynthSys embraces an extensive multidisciplinary community of more than 200 researchers from across the University with a common interest in synthetic and systems biology. Our research is broad and deep, addressing a diversity of scientific questions, with wide ranging impact. We bring together the power of synthetic biology and systems approaches to focus on three core thematic areas: industrial biotechnology, agriculture and the environment, and medicine and healthcare. In October 2015, we opened a newly refurbished building as a physical hub for our new U.K. Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology funded by the BBSRC/EPSRC/MRC as part of the U.K. Research Councils' Synthetic Biology for Growth programme.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
Lionel Clarke ◽  
Richard Kitney

Since the beginning of the 21st Century, synthetic biology has established itself as an effective technological approach to design and engineer biological systems. Whilst research and investment continues to develop the understanding, control and engineering infrastructural platforms necessary to tackle ever more challenging systems — and to increase the precision, robustness, speed and affordability of existing solutions — hundreds of start-up companies, predominantly in the US and UK, are already translating learnings and potential applications into commercially viable tools, services and products. Start-ups and SMEs have been the predominant channel for synthetic biology commercialisation to date, facilitating rapid response to changing societal interests and market pull arising from increasing awareness of health and global sustainability issues. Private investment in start-ups across the US and UK is increasing rapidly and now totals over $12bn. Health-related biotechnology applications have dominated the commercialisation of products to date, but significant opportunities for the production of bio-derived materials and chemicals, including consumer products, are now being developed. Synthetic biology start-ups developing tools and services account for between 10% (in the UK) and ∼25% (in the US) of private investment activity. Around 20% of synthetic biology start-ups address industrial biotechnology targets, but currently, only attract ∼11% private investment. Adopting a more networked approach — linking specialists, infrastructure and ongoing research to de-risk the economic challenges of scale-up and supported by an effective long-term funding strategy — is set to transform the impact of synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology in the bioeconomy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike Baumgart ◽  
Simon Unthan ◽  
Ramona Kloß ◽  
Andreas Radek ◽  
Tino Polen ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Wenbo Zhang ◽  
Xinshu Zhu ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Tao Li

Synthetic biology, an emerging research field, can promote biomanufacturing by offering various efficient chassis. Engineering Bacillus subtilis, an important workhorse in industrial biotechnology, through synthetic biology approaches may be a disruptive innovation. Advancements in chassis engineering, a synthetic biology strategy for genome-reduced cell factories, cell-free systems, and synthetic microbial consortia would be a driving force facilitating microbial production. We discussed chassis engineering categories and applications for B. subtilis. Prospects and challenges for chassis engineering in B. subtilis were also analyzed in this review article.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document