MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, United Kingdom; email:
Current address: Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
Annu Rev Biophys. 2023 May 9;52:413-432. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-111622-091203.
Synthetic biology seeks to probe fundamental aspects of biological form and function by construction [i.e., (re)synthesis] rather than deconstruction (analysis). In this sense, biological sciences now follow the lead given by the chemical sciences. Synthesis can complement analytic studies but also allows novel approaches to answering fundamental biological questions and opens up vast opportunities for the exploitation of biological processes to provide solutions for global problems. In this review, we explore aspects of this synthesis paradigm as applied to the chemistry and function of nucleic acids in biological systems and beyond, specifically, in genome resynthesis, synthetic genetics (i.e., the expansion of the genetic alphabet, of the genetic code, and of the chemical make-up of genetic systems), and the elaboration of orthogonal biosystems and components.
合成生物学通过构建（即重新合成）而不是解构（分析）来探索生物形态和功能的基本方面。从这个意义上说，生物科学现在紧随化学科学的脚步。合成可以补充分析研究，也可以为回答基本生物学问题提供新的方法，并为利用生物过程提供解决方案以解决全球问题开辟广阔的机会。在这篇综述中，我们探讨了将这一合成范式应用于生物系统内外核酸的化学和功能的各个方面，特别是在基因组重合成、合成遗传学（即遗传密码、遗传密码和遗传系统化学组成的扩展）以及正交生物系统和组件的阐述方面。
