• Home
  • Articles
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Biotech News – Featured
    • Biotech News
    • BioGadgets
  • Interviews
    • Interviews – Academia
    • Interviews – Industry
  • Issues
  • Subscribe
  • Board
  • Advertise
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • BioAsia 2023 to be held in February 24-26 in Telangana, India
  • Praj Industries and ESIIC partner to further bioeconomy in Egypt
  • Who is The Real Anthony Fauci? A true Doctor, liar, pharma profiteer or a totalitarian?
  • Guestorial: MALNUTRITION ACCELERATES THE METABOLIC AGE
  • Event: Australia’s biggest week in biotech kicks off in Perth
  • $3 trillion growth reported for biotech sector in USA
  • Event : FABA’s Whale Tank Event – “Venture Capital – Biotech Start-up Connect”
  • Vaccination, Rising Deaths, And The False Narrative
Biotech Express Magazine
  • Home
  • Articles
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Biotech News – Featured
    • Biotech News
    • BioGadgets
  • Interviews
    1. Interviews – Academia
    2. Interviews – Industry
    Featured
    January 16, 20211

    Interview – Prof Rajeev K Varshney “The Youngest Indian Scientist (47)” who achieved an h-index of 100 recently

    Recent
    July 26, 2022

    We are making best hygiene solutions through Biotech applications: Dr Rachna Dave, founder MicroGO

    March 30, 2022

    Interview- Bioenergy: India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy started almost four decades ago…but did not catch up…, Professor Ashok Pandey

    January 24, 2022

    Interview: Prof Kailash Chander Bansal, Secretary, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), India

  • Issues
  • Subscribe
  • Board
  • Advertise
Biotech Express Magazine
You are at:Home»Biotech News»Review Article- Synthetic Biology: Art and Science of Creating Super plants and Superhumans

Review Article- Synthetic Biology: Art and Science of Creating Super plants and Superhumans

0
By Biotech Express on March 9, 2021 Biotech News

Bansod Akash Anand1 & A C Reddy2*
*aswinchilakala@nipgr.ac.in
1- Department of Plant Biotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore
2- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi.

Abstract:
Synthetic biology is a new interdisciplinary field of biology which is emerging as a powerful tool which will be able to design, engineer, and synthesize life forms which were never existed before. Synthetic biology firstly involves modification of existing genetic material by incorporating synthetic DNA sequences and/or removing the junk pieces in it or secondly by completely synthesizing a new genome and incorporating it in live cells. The approaches used for engineering synthetic genomes, its methodology are discussed. Furthermore, insights on recent advances, current challenges, governing authorities across nations, and future prospects of synthetic biology has been included in the current article.

Introduction
Since the dawn of human civilization, humans have a strong urge to be superior to the rest of the planet’s living things. This urge never stopped; instead, it stayed there for generations, increased enormously with evolution, and still existed in the modern era. In today’s world, most developed nations show their power and strength through the means of military and nuclear weapons they possess. The industrial revolution has made such difficult things possible. But wait, what if I tell you that a nation declares itself as a superpower as they have created real-life Superhuman, aka Superman.

What is SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY? For understanding it clearly, we will simplify the complex meaning behind it. As the name suggests, Synthetic biology simply means artificially made/engineered (synthetic) genomes (life). Basic biology says that all the 2303320living organisms existing are made up of cells controlled by the genetic material inside them. It is called nucleic acids (genetic material/ All the genes present in an organism). These nucleic acids control all the necessary and metabolic activities to carry out the cell’s life functions. In synthetic biology, these genes, genetic pathways, and genetic networks are altered or rearranged to produce the desired organism.

Now let’s discuss in detail Synthetic genome engineering (SGE), a sub-discipline of synthetic biology; this aims to (re-)design and fabrication of biological entities or components and biological systems that do not already exist on planet earth. It also combines the chemical synthesis of DNA (synthetic DNA) to manufacture cataloged DNA sequences and their assembly into whole new genomes. This creates another question regarding the existing genetic engineering technology and CRISPR technology.

How a Synthetic genome engineering (SGE) is different from Genetic engineering (Genome editing), there may be a doubt? Let’s clear it, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH), in genome editing, researchers typically use specific techniques and tools to make small but significant changes to the organism’s DNA. In contrast, synthetic genome engineering involves long stretches of DNA (genes found in other organisms or be completely novel) to be stitched together to create an artificially synthesized genome. Moreover, synthetic genome engineering facilitates us to make changes throughout the genome, which seems over the limits of genome editing. Only a small stretch of DNA is being manipulated.

There are two approaches for it as explained in Figure 2: 1) Top-down: An older model can be redesigned to make the existing model more efficient (reducing the complexity of the existing system and creating a small-sized system), and the second one is 2) Bottom-up:
A new model can be designed from scratch (individual parts are synthesized and reassembled to create a new system). For SGE, mostly, the bottom-up approach is used.

Methodology: When we look for the methodology of synthetic genome engineering, it starts with designing a prototype or blueprint of the genome we wish to engineer using platforms like J. Craig Venter, CEO of Synthetic Genomics Inc. Biostudio. This software enables us to explore four main aspects such as 1) Recoding: it is one of the simplest features which is mostly used for the purpose of recording the codons (3-digit code of amino acids which are building blocks of proteins), designing restriction sites and PCR tags. Next is 2) Modularization: which allows designing the DNA fragment sizes required for the assembly of genome, 3) Add-in: which allows us to add the desired sequences from existing organisms and 4) Simplification: which involves reducing errors and removal of unnecessary genes, sequences and making the model amenable to survival and performance. After this, a trial-and-error analysis is performed to reveal the model’s flaws, and necessary actions have been taken.

Figure 3: J. Craig Venter, CEO of Synthetic Genomics Inc.

Applications: So next thing which makes us curious is what has happened/recent advances till the date in this evolving field. One can see the achievements in the picture below: Starting from creating a simple synthetic phage genome to creating complex synthetic true yeast chromosomes, the area has flourished significantly. One of the pioneers of SGE, J. Craig Venter Institute, has excelled in their research. In 2003, they assembled bacteriophage PhiX74 genome (5386 bp long) in about two weeks and later in 2006, they created a completely synthetic genome of a minimal bacterium, Mycoplasma laboratorium.

Further, they are putting efforts to make it function in a living cell. Another jewel in the crown of synthetic biology was added in 2019 which reveals a microorganism (bacteria Escherichia coli) which has modified genome (possibly artificial) and is able to code 59 codons instead of the natural number of 64 codons to encode 20 amino acids.This paradigm shifts from “genome reading” to “genome writing” tells us about humankind’s advancements so far.

Interestingly, Dr. Jef Boeke from Johns Hopkins University leads a project called “The Sc2.0 Project” with the team of international collaborators, which is first attempt to design and synthesize a eukaryotic genome- Saccharomyces cerevisiae, i.e., our Baker’s Yeast, which aims at synthesizing the entire yeast genome, which consists of 16 chromosomes, nearly 6,000 genes and a total of 12 megabases of non-redundant of DNA. They designed the Synthetic Chromosome Recombination and Modification by LoxP-mediated Evolution (SCRaMbLE) system for gene rearrangements. They introduced more than 5,000 LoxP sites (if it is getting hard to understand, Wikipedia is there to help you) so as to introduce desired rearrangements and deletions. They have also introduced neochromosome (a completely new chromosome) having tRNA genes, ditched destabilizing transposons, which makes it stable, removed “junk sequences,” which made it leaner, and as already mentioned, introduced SCRaMbLE system, which makes it a built-in inducible diversity generator.

So far, we have talked about the applications of SGE relevant to microbes only, which needs an update and upgrade, so what do you think! Do we have something to talk about on higher organisms? Absolutely yes! Currently, we can find few published examples of synthetic plant biology, which involves the production of synthetic sensors and synthetic metabolic pathways, but the research is still in its initial stages and faces difficulties in creating plant synthetic genome like 1) scarcity of well-characterized and interchangeable parts and modules of plant genome, required for their modeling and assembly, and fine-tuning of synthetic gene networks 2) context-dependency ofbiological parts and modules which makes the synthetic process unpredictable 3) Host-compatibility issues like codon optimization, genetic instability, regulatory incompatibilities and genomic position effects after integration of synthetic devices into a plant can create major malfunction of model.

So what could be looked at as the next step to progress in plant SGE? The answer is Synthetic plastome (genome of a plastid, a type of organelle found in plants) engineering. There are certain advantages in using plastome for synthetic modification, such as the plastome’s prokaryotic nature may help in building synthetic circuits in plants. A tiny plastid genome with fewer but important components will be of great value for two reasons:
1) The regulatory network responsible for plastid functioning can be deciphered, and
2) It can be used in biotechnological research by serving as template for engineering plastomes

Challenges and Future prospects: Using SGE to create synthetic plastomes can serve as the breakthrough to open a gateway for plant genome engineering. Practically speaking, there is still the lack of availability of well-characterized genetic parts, modules, strictly controlled expression devices, and thorough knowledge of plastid gene expression. As human nature tends to see hope even in the darkest hours, so in the future, this emerging field can be seen as a threshold to alleviate the problems related with biotic and abiotic stresses and to help in increasing the production of food, secondary metabolites, and even completely synthetic life forms. Advancement in technology has paved road for development of new algorithms, various models, and precise softwares which will help in better characterization and standardization of the orthogonality of more biological parts and modules, as well as better rational designs. Encouragingly, funding agencies in different countries have started to look into plant synthetic biology projects. We also hope that advances in the field of science and technology will show us the miracles in need of an hour.

Perspective creates a different scenario and differs from person to person. One perspective says whether this technology is safe and raises concerns over bio-terrorism, the environment, and the human race. Whereas, other perspective focuses on advancement in SGE to fasten the process and creation of meaningful and useful models for the desired output. Still, wherever there are concerns over safety, there need to be governing authorities to control experiments. At the International level, several treaties contain provisions that apply to synthetic biology; these include: -The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),-Biological Weapons Convention, -Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, -Nagoya–Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability, and -Australia Group Guidelines.

Conclusion:

As far we have seen SGE, we can truly say … this technology not only enables us to create something new, but to understand the process of how life works, gives the promising opportunity to create crops with high yields, better resistance to pest and diseases, and better adaptability on introduction to new areas as well in case of humans it might allow us to tackle incurable genetic diseases, to know the evolutionary process and can help us to predict the mysteries of genetic material. So, in the end, we can say that this field challenges the laws of nature. Still, as someone has said, “if we eat GMOs, we may die, but if we do not eat GMOs, then we are definitely gonna die,” which might be said in the context of increasing demand and decreasing supply. So, bringing Superplants with unbelievable qualities and comic characters like Superman, Spiderman into reality is not just Stan Lee’s job anymore; it can be done by scientific researches too.

References:
Boehm, Christian R. and Ralph Bock. 2019. “Update on DNA Technology Recent Advances and Current Challenges in Synthetic Biology of the Plastid Genetic System and Metabolism.” 179 (March):794–802.
Dymond, Jessica, Jef Boeke, and Chromosome Rearrangement. 2012. “The Saccharomyces Cerevisiae SCRaMbLE System and Genome Minimization © 2012 Landes Bioscience. 2012 Landes Bioscience.” 3(3):168–71.
Kubis, Armin and Arren Bar-even. 2019. “Synthetic Biology Approaches for Improving Photosynthesis.” 70(5):1425–33.
Liu, W. and Stewart Jr, C.N., 2015. Plant synthetic biology. Trends in Plant Science, 20(5), pp.309-317.
Luo, Zhouqing, Qing Yang, Binan Geng, Shuangying Jiang, Shihui Yang, and Xiaozheng Li. 2018. “Science China.”
Pretorius, I. S. and J. D. Boeke. 2018. “Yeast 2. 0 — connecting the Dots in the Construction of the World’s First Functional Synthetic Eukaryotic Genome.” (March):1–15.
Richardson, Sarah M., Leslie A. Mitchell, Giovanni Stracquadanio, Kun Yang, Jessica S. Dymond, James E. Dicarlo, Dongwon Lee, Cheng Lai, Victor Huang, Srinivasan Chandrasegaran, and Yizhi Cai. 2017. “Design of a Synthetic Yeast Genome.” 1044(March):1040–44.

For Full Article:

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Biotech Express
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

ISSN: 2454-6968 | Biotech Express Magazine publishes articles in the field of biotechnology and allied sciences in a way that have never been presented earlier. It publishes Editorials, Guest Articles, Reports, Interviews, Current News of Govt. Academics and Business, Research Highlights and Notifications of Events, Jobs, Research Proposals in the field of Biotechnology, Biological Sciences, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Neurosciences, Genetics, Medical Sciences, BioPharma etc.

Related Posts

Praj Industries and ESIIC partner to further bioeconomy in Egypt

$3 trillion growth reported for biotech sector in USA

Bombay HC Issues Notice To Bill Gates, Serum Institute, DGCI, Others Over Plea On Alleged ‘Vaccine Death’

Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

Current Issue – October 2022
Upcoming Event

                   VIEW SUBSCRIPTION PLANS

JOBS/NOTIFICATIONS

   

         CLICK HERE FOR RECENT NOTICES

Recent Posts
  • BioAsia 2023 to be held in February 24-26 in Telangana, India January 10, 2023
  • Praj Industries and ESIIC partner to further bioeconomy in Egypt November 10, 2022
  • Who is The Real Anthony Fauci? A true Doctor, liar, pharma profiteer or a totalitarian? November 1, 2022
  • Guestorial: MALNUTRITION ACCELERATES THE METABOLIC AGE October 31, 2022
  • Event: Australia’s biggest week in biotech kicks off in Perth October 26, 2022
  • $3 trillion growth reported for biotech sector in USA October 25, 2022
  • Event : FABA’s Whale Tank Event – “Venture Capital – Biotech Start-up Connect” September 21, 2022
  • Vaccination, Rising Deaths, And The False Narrative September 20, 2022
  • Guestorial: Genome Mapping Techniques and its Application in Aquaculture September 19, 2022
  • Bombay HC Issues Notice To Bill Gates, Serum Institute, DGCI, Others Over Plea On Alleged ‘Vaccine Death’ September 5, 2022
  • Deaths due Covid-19 vaccines should be compensated by vaccine makers: Expert hope on Kerala HC remark August 21, 2022
  • Maker of Dolo-650, pandemic’s ‘magic pill’, faces income tax searches and PIL petitions August 20, 2022
  • Anthony Fauci, Controversial US Top-doc FINALLY, To Retire By Year-end August 20, 2022
  • SII’s Cervevac: The new DCGI approved vaccine without published clinical trial results August 20, 2022
  • Pitch your Start-up to National/International Venture Capitalists – first ever opportunity provided to Bio-Start-ups by FABA August 19, 2022
  • India’s Clinical Trial Registry might disappear soon and so the history of pharma record August 19, 2022
  • Nearly Half of Pregnant Women in Pfizer Trial Miscarried August 10, 2022
  • Researchers develop Cellulose shoes made by bacteria August 9, 2022
  • Biocon Sdn. Bhd. Enters Malaysia Book of Records as the First & the Largest Integrated Insulin Manufacturing Facility August 5, 2022
  • CBI Arrests of CDSCO officials, a Biocon official & Intermediaries in an alleged bribery case exposed Corruption in Govt and Pharma sector July 27, 2022
  • We are making best hygiene solutions through Biotech applications: Dr Rachna Dave, founder MicroGO July 26, 2022
  • EVENT HIGHLIGHTS: Genome editing as a novel technology for sustainable development July 24, 2022
  • US Military Doctor Testifies under Oath That She Was ORDERED To ‘Cover up’ COVID Vaccine Injuries July 24, 2022
  • Climatic Effect on Marine Biodiversity and their impact on coral reefs July 23, 2022
  • Highlights of India’s first Biotech startup Expo June 13, 2022
  • NTU Singapore scientists develop a ‘fabric’ that turns body movement into electricity June 6, 2022
  • Researchers who jumped into the field from distant disciplines published lower impact work, study finds May 30, 2022
  • Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham gets CDSCO nod for clinical trials of first-of-its-kind synthetic jaw-bone graft May 26, 2022
  • AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines which uses a chimpanzee adenovirus inked to monkeypox outbreak May 25, 2022
  • Concerns Mount Over COVID-19 ‘Rebounds’ After Treatment With Pfizer’s Paxlovid May 25, 2022
Archives
Categories
  • Articles
  • Articles- Editorials
  • Articles- Guestorials
  • BioControversial
  • BioEvents
  • BioGadgets
  • BioPolicies
  • BioResearch – Academic
  • Biotech News
  • Biotech News – Featured
  • Contents
  • Interviews
  • Interviews – Academia
  • Interviews – Industry
  • SARS- CoV2 & COVID-19 Updates
  • startups
About Us

Biotech Express Magazine publishes articles in the field of biotechnology and allied sciences in a way that have never been presented earlier. It publishes Editorials, Guest Articles, Reports,  Interviews, Current News of Govt. Academics and Business, Research Highlights and Notifications of Events, Jobs, Research Proposals in the field of Biotechnology and allied sciences like Biological Sciences, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Neurology, Genetics, Medical Sciences, BioPharma etc.

Call us: _91-9311986177

Email – biotechexpressindia@gmail.com

About Us

About Biotech Express

Advisory and Editorial Board

Contact Us

Policy and Guidelines

Submission policies

Peer review policy    

Copyright policy

 

Follow Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content and ads. By continuing you agree to the use of cookies. Copyright © 2013-2020 Biotech Express except certain content provided by third parties.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.