Sprinzak David, Elowitz Michael B
California Institute of Technology, Division of Biology and Department of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Nature. 2005 Nov 24;438(7067):443-8. doi: 10.1038/nature04335.
The complex genetic circuits found in cells are ordinarily studied by analysis of genetic and biochemical perturbations. The inherent modularity of biological components like genes and proteins enables a complementary approach: one can construct and analyse synthetic genetic circuits based on their natural counterparts. Such synthetic circuits can be used as simple in vivo models to explore the relation between the structure and function of a genetic circuit. Here we describe recent progress in this area of synthetic biology, highlighting newly developed genetic components and biological lessons learned from this approach.
细胞中发现的复杂遗传回路通常通过对遗传和生化扰动的分析来研究。基因和蛋白质等生物组件固有的模块化特性使得一种互补方法成为可能：人们可以基于天然对应物构建和分析合成遗传回路。这种合成回路可用作简单的体内模型，以探索遗传回路的结构与功能之间的关系。在此，我们描述合成生物学这一领域的最新进展，重点介绍新开发的遗传组件以及从该方法中学到的生物学知识。
