Synthetic Biology-What can we expect:
Synthetic Biology deals with the study of
existing biological systems and structures, redesigning them and formation of
new biological systems. This field combines knowledge and apply it for the
betterment of mankind from a number of fields including; genetic engineering,
molecular biology, biotechnology, biophysics, molecular engineering, computer
and electrical engineering.
The field of synthetic biology is continuously
revolutionizing the world as it provides human with all the necessary knowledge
needed for dealing with various problems, diseases and helping mankind to think
beyond boundaries and enabling them to devise such techniques and technologies
which were considered impossible before.
CONTRIBUTIONS:
Following are some recent contributions by the field of
synthetic biology.
1.Chimeric Organisms:
The word
chimera is driven from Greek mythology which means a monster having head of a
lion, body of a goat, and tail of a snake, ultimately a combination of various
living beings. In biology such thing is termed as chimera which contains
materials from multiple living sources, it could be a chimeric DNA or a
chimeric organism. Now a day scientific community across the globe is working
on developing chimeric organisms having human genetic material and capable of
producing various human organs which could ultimately be used for clinical
trials, testing of various new medicines, and for transplant purposes. At the
moment the demand for organ transplant is 4 times the supply. So, successful
formation of chimeric organisms having human cells and organs will be helpful
to meet this requirement. Multiple experiments were carried before human
trials:
· Inserting rat stem cells in to mice forming rat-mice
hybrid.
· Inserting rat stem cells in to pig no positive result.
· Inserting human stem cells in to pig embryo. Positive
result and formation of human –pig hybrid.
 |
| Procedure for the formation of Human-Pig hybrid |
2.Bio-fuels:
Petro-chemicals are now becoming an out dated source to power
our vehicles. Continuous CO2
emissions and global warming issues are forcing man kind to shift towards a
viable source. Bio-fuels are the best possible alternative till now to power
our vehicles. The formation of bio-fuels is a complex process and greatly
dependent on synthetic biology. Formation of such bio-catalysts which can
effectively and efficiently convert sugars in to desired products is because of
molecular engineering and synthetic biology. Researchers are now struggling to
develop more efficient bio-catalysts which can produce high quantity of bio-fuels out of sugars and also do it more cheaply in order to bring the cost of
bio-fuels way lower than the traditional petrochemicals. Many developed and
highly developing nations are already producing bio-fuels in large quantities and
are using it. USA, Brazil and Germany are the top 3 producers followed by
China, Argentina, France, Indonesia, Canada, Thailand, and Colombia.
 |
| Top 10 Bio-fuel Producers (Courtesy World Economic Forum) |
3.Bio-sensors:
Bio-sensors are such organisms which are modified to give out certain signals
upon completion of some physiological and biological process. These kinds of
sensors can be used to detect and quantify certain reactions and biological
process. These bio-sensors provide an effective way to monitor cells under
in-vivo conditions helping scientists to better understand the survival,
migration, and possible tumourigenicity in animal cells.
4.Data Storage:
Storing data is a key part of learning and evolving as it enables us to
look back in our past and see where we did right or wrong and what is necessary
to be done to deal with a specific problem. But to store data for a long time
is a challenge. Normal hard drives have a life span of 5-10 years and are
unable to store data for centuries, which forces us to make its copies
regularly and if one doesn’t do it he’ll lose the data forever. Scientist are
working to deal with the problem by creating such thing which can hold data for
centuries without any issue. Science is now looking at nature for a solution. Researchers
at The ETH Zurich, Switzerland believe that answer lies in natural data storage
system of living cells: THE DNA, So compact and complex that a 1gm can
theoretically store all data of TECH Giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook. In
storage terms 1 gm DNA can store 455 exabytes of information and 1 exabyte is
equal to a billion gigabytes.
DNA is a unique way of nature to store data for centuries in
form of fossils. Scientist has succeeded in extracting genome of
110,000-year-polar bear and recently a 700,000-year old horse. Robert Grass of Dept.
of Chemistry and applied Bio-science said:
"We have
found ways of making DNA very stable, So we want to combine high storage
density of DNA with stability of DNA found in fossils"
 |
| Future USB's might be made up of DNA |
5.Nano-particles:
Use of nanotech in various
fields of science including biology is increasing day by day. Nanotech in
biology has shown some promising results so far indicating the impact it could
make on our lives. Many kinds of nano-robots are used as drug delivery systems
which deliver a certain medicine directly in to the infected cells preventing
the uptake of the drug by healthy cells and avoiding some malfunctioning and
side effects of the drug. These nano-robots are enabling researchers to deliver
the drugs in a very controlled manner and dosage. Various nano-particles are
also being used to reduce anti-biotic resistance. Various nano-particles are
under clinical trial for treatment of various diseases. E.g.:
· Abraxane are the nanoparticle albumin bound paclitaxel
used for the treatment of various type of cancers including breast cancer and
pancreatic cancer.
· C-dots are small silica based nano particles which
give fluorescence with an organic dye and is being used for easy detection of
tumour cells by surgeons.
· Nano particles are also used for treatment of eye
diseases including cataract and dry eye disease.
 |
| Nano-robots directly delivering medicine to individual cells |
6.Genome editing:
Every single
development inside a living organism is managed by its genome all the necessary
data is encoded inside the genome. A minor error in this genome can result in
to severe and incurable diseases but thanks to genome editing these issues are
now less complicated. Genome editing is the thing these days. Everyone across
the world is talking about it and the impact it can cause on the human life.
Imagine of an incurable disease which can be treated with replacing the error
gene with healthy one simply by cutting the first are replacing the latter with
it. According to an estimate almost 85-90% of genetic disorders are incurable
but with this gene editing we can deal with those issues. Along with treatment
of diseases genome editing can also be used for solving many other problems. It
can be used in production of more advanced and efficient plants, animals and
even humans. It can be used in plants to make them resistive against various
diseases without any usage of foreign DNA, improving yield outputs of the
plant, making them more adoptive to harsh environmental conditions, etc. Genome
editing is an efficient way to manipulate a living being according to our
desire and can prove extremely beneficial in near future. Currently the most
effevtive genome editing tool is the CRISPR/CAS-9 , others include
CRISPR/CPF-1, Zinc finger nuclease, and TALENS.
