Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies (DiSTeBA), University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy.
Molecules. 2023 Jul 21;28(14):5564. doi: 10.3390/molecules28145564.
The potential role of bottom-up Synthetic Cells (SCs) in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is discussed. In particular, this perspective paper focuses on the growing interest in networks of biological and/or artificial objects at the micro- and nanoscale (cells and subcellular parts, microelectrodes, microvessels, etc.), whereby communication takes place in an unconventional manner, i.e., via chemical signaling. The resulting "molecular communication" (MC) scenario paves the way to the development of innovative technologies that have the potential to impact biotechnology, nanomedicine, and related fields. The scenario that relies on the interconnection of natural and artificial entities is briefly introduced, highlighting how Synthetic Biology (SB) plays a central role. SB allows the construction of various types of SCs that can be designed, tailored, and programmed according to specific predefined requirements. In particular, "bottom-up" SCs are briefly described by commenting on the principles of their design and fabrication and their features (in particular, the capacity to exchange chemicals with other SCs or with natural biological cells). Although bottom-up SCs still have low complexity and thus basic functionalities, here, we introduce their potential role in the IoBNT. This perspective paper aims to stimulate interest in and discussion on the presented topics. The article also includes commentaries on MC, semantic information, minimal cognition, wetware neuromorphic engineering, and chemical social robotics, with the specific potential they can bring to the IoBNT.
本文讨论了自下而上的合成细胞（SCs）在生物-纳米物联网络（IoBNT）中的潜在作用。具体而言，本观点文章主要关注在微观和纳米尺度（细胞和亚细胞部分、微电极、微脉管等）上生物和/或人工物体网络的日益增长的兴趣，其中通信以非常规的方式进行，即通过化学信号。由此产生的“分子通信”（MC）场景为开发创新技术铺平了道路，这些技术有可能对生物技术、纳米医学和相关领域产生影响。简要介绍了依赖于自然和人工实体互联的场景，突出了合成生物学（SB）所起的核心作用。SB 允许构建各种类型的 SC，可以根据特定的预定义要求进行设计、定制和编程。特别是，通过评论其设计和制造原理及其功能（特别是与其他 SC 或与天然生物细胞交换化学物质的能力），简要描述了“自下而上”的 SC。尽管自下而上的 SC 仍然具有低复杂度，因此具有基本功能，但在这里，我们介绍了它们在 IoBNT 中的潜在作用。本文旨在激发人们对所提出的主题的兴趣和讨论。文章还对 MC、语义信息、最小认知、湿件神经形态工程和化学社会机器人进行了评论，特别强调了它们为 IoBNT 带来的潜力。
