Synthetic biology is an emerging field with promise for improving our ability to manufacture chemicals, develop therapeutic medicines such as biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, and enhance agricultural production, among other things.
Synthetic biology is an emerging field with promise for improving our ability to manufacture chemicals, develop therapeutic medicines such as biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, and enhance agricultural production, among other things. It relies on taking natural or engineered pieces of DNA and combining them in new ways in biological systems, such as microbes, bacteria or other organisms.
According to University of Delaware’s Aditya Kunjapur, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, as these sophisticated microbial technologies are advanced, scientists need to explore ways to keep these organisms from ending up in the wrong environment.
For example, a bacterium that is good at making large amounts of chemicals is great in a bioreactor, but it isn’t necessarily what we would want in the environment or in our food. Similarly, a specialized bacterium developed to help a plant be more productive is useful in agriculture, but we might not want that same bacterium to end up in our bodies.
Engineering traits directly into the microbe to create built-in safeguards to control where it can grow, known as biological containment, is one promising solution.
Read more at: University of Delaware
Aditya Kunjapur, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering (right), and doctoral student Michaela Jones compare samples in the lab. (Photo Credit: Kathy Atkinson)
