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Synthetic Biology: The New Era

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Samudra Guha
Samudra Guha
Samudra Guha
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Joyeeta Talukdar at All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Joyeeta Talukdar
Abhibroto Karmakar at Manipal Academy of Higher Education
Abhibroto Karmakar
Sandeep Goswami at All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Sandeep Goswami
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Abstract

Synthetic biology is an emerging discipline of science, at the intersection of biology, engineering, and chemistry that involves redesigning organisms to have new phenotypes and customized abilities. While synthetic biology seems to have originated from genetic engineering, over the years, it has matured as well as diverged from it. It involves not just the transfer of genes from one or cell to another creating some variants, it also involves the assembly of an altogether novel organism or cell created part by part by the assembly of individual components of the desired function in a logical fashion. In this minireview, we will explore this new discipline and its possible applications and future promises to serve the humanity
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200 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences | Apr 2022 | Vol 13 | Issue 4
INTRODUCTION
Advances in synthetic biology have expanded the biologist
horizon to explore the possibilities to engineer and manipulate
organisms thereby allowing creating bacteria stains that
are genetically altered to have specific therapeutic and
biotechnological benets.1 These, in turn, have tremendous
potential with a new therapeutic power and precision.2
APPROACHES OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
The ability to design and construct new biological parts
and the redesigning of biological system for useful
purposes.3 Extraction and reassembly of biological parts
along with the principles of abstraction, modularity, and
standardization.
a. Two different approaches
b. Top down – to impart new functions to living cells
c. Bottom up – to creating new biological system in vitro
by bringing together “non-living” biomolecular
components.
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY IN HEALTHCARE
Synthetic biology has a tremendous role in biomedicine
and healthcare, with patients benefiting from cancer
immunotherapy and chimeric antigen receptor therapy for
refractory cancers.4,5 Lentiviral vectors were used in gene
therapy. In lentivirus based gene therapy, genes maybe be
inserted or modied, using lentivirus in an effort to correct
the defective gene.
Synthetic biology: The new era
Samudra Guha1, Joyeeta Takuldar2, Abhibrato Karmakar3, Sandeep Goswami4,
Arun Kumar5, Ruby Dhar6, Subhradip Karmakar7
1Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, 2,3Research Associate-I,
6Scientist, 7Additional Professor, Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi,
5Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Jaganath Gupta Institute of Medical Sciences, Kolkata, West Bengal, India,
4Post Doctoral Fellow, Cancer Biology Program, University of South Alabama, Mitchell Cancer Institute, Mobile,
Alabama, United States
Submission: 16-03-2022 Revision: 24-03-2022 Publication: 01-04-2022
Address for Correspondence:
Dr. Subhradip Karmakar, Additional Professor, Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Mobile: +91-9999612564. E-mail: subhradip.k@aiims.edu; Dr. Ruby Dhar, Scientist, Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Mobile: +91-9818939091. E-mail: rubydhar@gmail.com
Synthetic biology is an emerging discipline of science, at the intersection of biology,
engineering, and chemistry that involve redesigning organisms to have new phenotypes
and customized abilities. While synthetic biology seems to have originated from genetic
engineering, over the years, it has matured as well as diverged from it. It involves not just
the transfer of genes from one or cell to another creating some variants, it also involves the
assembly of an altogether novel organism or cell created part by part by the assembly of
individual components of the desired function in a logical fashion. In this mini review, we
will explore this new discipline and its possible applications and future promises to serve
the humanity.
Key words: Biomedical research; Biotechnology; DNA sequencing; Synthetic biology
MINI REVIEW ASIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
ABSTRACT
Access this article online
Website:
http://nepjol.info/index.php/AJMS
DOI: 10.3126/ajms.v13i4.43880
E-ISSN: 2091-0576
P-ISSN: 2467-9100
Copyright (c) 2022 Asian Journal of
Medical Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
4.0 International License.
Guha, et al.: Synthetic biology: The new era
Asian Journal of Medical Sciences | Apr 2022 | Vol 13 | Issue 4 201
Example in Severe Combined Immune Deciency,6 iPS
cells derived from the somatic cells of the patients which
may be used to generate new tissues, or 3D printed to create
organs in an effort to repair the diseased tissue.7
BASICS OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: HISTORY
Although the concepts of synthetic biology were prevailing
since 1960, a systematic framework was only established
in the late 90s. This was developed with simultaneous
development of biotechnology and molecular cloning
techniques (Figure 1).
A big leap in this developmental pipeline came with the
rapid progress in genome sequencing technologies, NGS
platform, and computational algorithm so that gene
manipulation become more feasible (Figure 2).8
The elements of synthetic biology involves the concept of
continued learning, its application, feedback, and updating
the protocols. It involves experimentation, using tools
of genetic engineering, molecular biology, and synthetic
chemistry.9 It also involves engineering the DNA with
new genetic functional elements and modules to address
the biological need.10
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TOOLKIT
1. Reading the DNA code – DNA sequencing
2. Copying existing DNA sequences – cloning
3. Inserting specic DNA sequences into existing DNA
strands – genetic integration.
Although these methods have been implemented for many
years and have been used to great effect in research, but
they are not sufcient for synthetic biology.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
AND GENETIC ENGINEERING
The difference between synthetic biology and genetic
engineering is shown in Table 1.
Example of synthetic biology approach to detect
environmental pollutants like Arsenic (Figure 3).
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY-BASED MEDICAL
APPLICATION13,14
• Engineered bacteria and microbial for disease diagnosis
and treatment
• Synthetic biosensor for detecting disease
• Cellular immunotherapy
• Blood glucose control devices.
Table 1: The fundamental difference between
synthetic biology and Genetic Engineering
and biotechnology. Although we have
commonalities, still there are distinct domains
between these two discipline
Synthetic biology Genetic engineering
Creation of fully operational
biological synthetic system from
the smallest constituents
The articial manipulation
of DNA or other nucleic
acid molecules to modify an
organism
Relies intensively on the
standardized concept of
engineering involving the design
of genetic circuit with biological
parts from many dierent species
Relies on the alteration of
genetic material based on
a set of methodologies and
is often represented as a hit
and miss activity
Figure 2: The basic architecture of synthetic biology blending
the principles of biology, chemistry, and engineering. The rapid
development of DNA sequencing technologies has helped to rapidly
advance this eld. Source: Ausländer and Fussenegger 201611
Figure 1: Time line of the development of synthetic biology
Guha, et al.: Synthetic biology: The new era
202 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences | Apr 2022 | Vol 13 | Issue 4
CONCLUSION
With the advancement in biomedical sciences, along with an
increased demand to develop bench to bedside applications
that can address the diverse problems facing mankind,
synthetic biology has been very useful and realistic in this
direction. Using engineered vectors, designer plasmids, and
modied chemical pathways, synthetic biology is proving
to be very helpful to solve real life problems that were
very challenging few years back. A thrust in this area will
form the foundation of future of biomedical research
empowering the society with solutions from healthcare,
agriculture, genetic engineering, and bio-pharmaceuticals.
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Figure 3: An arsenic detection module using the bacterial derived arsenic sensors attached with green uorescent protein for rapid detection
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Guha, et al.: Synthetic biology: The new era
Asian Journal of Medical Sciences | Apr 2022 | Vol 13 | Issue 4 203
Authors Contribution:
SG- Drafted the manuscript with assistance from SK, RD, AK, and JT; AK- Provided critical comments and suggestions; AK- Assisted in statistical and data
curation; SG, SK, RD- Conceptualized and overseen the entire study.
Work attributed to:
Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi - 110029, India.
Orcid ID:
Dr. Samudra Guha - https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4550-7465
Dr. Joyeeta Takuldar - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4922-2283
Dr. Abhibrato Karmakar - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9697-9107
Dr. Sandeep Goswami - https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6168-2138
Dr. Ruby Dhar - https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3600-6554
Dr. Arun Kumar - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8800-0296
Dr. Subhradip Karmakar - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4757-8729
Source of Support: None, Conicts of Interest: None.
... Synthetic biology is a newly emerging discipline that combines biology, engineering, and chemistry (Lisa, 2020;Guha et al., 2022). The main research aims of synthetic biology is to redesign and reconstruct biological pathways, natural macromolecules, and regulating systems using engineering and bottom-up strategies. ...
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