QB3 Institute, University of California-Berkeley, 5885 Hollis St., 4th Floor, Emeryville, CA, 94608, USA.
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California-Los Angeles, 420 Westwood Plaza, Boelter Hall 5531, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol. 2018 Jul;45(7):449-461. doi: 10.1007/s10295-018-2056-y. Epub 2018 Jun 18.
Synthetic biology is a logical extension of what has been called recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology or genetic engineering since the 1970s. As rDNA technology has been the driver for the development of a thriving biotechnology industry today, starting with the commercialization of biosynthetic human insulin in the early 1980s, synthetic biology has the potential to take the industry to new heights in the coming years. Synthetic biology advances have been driven by dramatic cost reductions in DNA sequencing and DNA synthesis; by the development of sophisticated tools for genome editing, such as CRISPR/Cas9; and by advances in informatics, computational tools, and infrastructure to facilitate and scale analysis and design. Synthetic biology approaches have already been applied to the metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the production of industrially important chemicals and for the engineering of human cells to treat medical disorders. It also shows great promise to accelerate the discovery and development of novel secondary metabolites from microorganisms through traditional, engineered, and combinatorial biosynthesis. We anticipate that synthetic biology will continue to have broadening impacts on the biotechnology industry to address ongoing issues of human health, world food supply, renewable energy, and industrial chemicals and enzymes.
合成生物学是自 20 世纪 70 年代以来所谓的重组 DNA（rDNA）技术或基因工程的逻辑延伸。由于 rDNA 技术是当今蓬勃发展的生物技术产业的发展动力，从 20 世纪 80 年代初生物合成人胰岛素的商业化开始，合成生物学有可能在未来几年将该行业推向新的高度。合成生物学的进展得益于 DNA 测序和 DNA 合成成本的大幅降低；基因组编辑工具（如 CRISPR/Cas9）的发展；以及信息学、计算工具和基础设施的进步，这些进步促进了分析和设计的规模扩大。合成生物学方法已经应用于微生物的代谢工程，以生产工业上重要的化学品，并对人类细胞进行工程改造，以治疗医学疾病。它在通过传统、工程化和组合生物合成加速从微生物中发现和开发新型次生代谢物方面也显示出巨大的潜力。我们预计，合成生物学将继续对生物技术产业产生广泛影响，以解决人类健康、世界粮食供应、可再生能源以及工业化学品和酶等持续存在的问题。
