Drew Endy
Known as the “Father of Synthetic Biology,” Tom Knight was the first to propose the idea of a formal engineering framework for biology, through the standardization and characterization of genetic elements that are encoded in DNA. He introduced the concept of ‘BioBricks’, which are model biological parts that can be assembled in combination to build functional genetic devices and systems with predictable behaviors. Knight, the founding director of BioBricks, was pulled away from computer science and into synthetic biology after becoming fascinated by cell division and data storage.
Stanford bioengineering professor Drew Endy is one of the leaders in the field of synthetic biology. His work continues to shape and drive the development of the field, both in terms of the creation of BioBrick standard parts, but also in terms of the human interaction side of synthetic biology. Endy also co-founded the MIT Synthetic Biology working group and the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, and organized the First International Conference on Synthetic Biology. With colleagues he taught the 2003 and 2004 MIT Synthetic Biology labs that led to the iGEM, the international Genetically Engineered Machine competition. Endy, along with several colleagues, created the BioBricks foundation in 2005 (2.4).
One of the major pioneers of synthetic biology was J. Craig Venter, who founded Synthetic Genomics, and has the J.Craig Venter Institute named after him. In 1995, Venter led the team that sequenced the first cellular genome, that of the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae. In 2001, Venter led a private project to sequence the human genome, a project that ran alongside the Human Genome Project. He established the J. Craig Venter Institute in 2006, and in 2010 announced that he had succeeded in creating a synthetic cell, built from a chemically synthesised genome and capable of self-replication.
A pioneer in the emerging field of synthetic biology, Jay Keasling is also the Hubbard Howe Jr. Distinguished Professor of Biochemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a senior faculty scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and is associate laboratory director for biosciences; he is also director of the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC), and CEO of the US Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). Keasling’s research focuses on the engineering of microorganisms for degradation of environmental contaminants or for the synthesis of drugs, chemicals, and fuels that are not harmful to the environment-- essentially, he focuses on modifying or creating microorganisms to create useful chemicals.
The Christopher Voigt Lab at MIT is roughly divided into two groups. The first is focused on the development of a programming language for cells. A genetic program consists of a combination of genetic circuits, each of which uses biochemistry to replicate a function analogous to an electronic circuit. For example, Voigt and his team combined 4 circuits to build an edge detection program in E. coli that enables cells to draw the light-dark boundaries of an image projected on a plate. Their near-term objective is to develop the foundations by which 20-30 circuit programs can be reliably built. This will require new classes of circuits that can be rapidly connected and are sufficiently simple enough to be assembled by computer algorithms. They are also developing biophysical models that can map the sequence of a genetic part to its function. These models can be used to create circuits and programs that are efficient and optimized.
The second lab group led by Voigt is focused on applying such synthetic biology tools, as genetic programs, to problems in biotechnology. Currently, they are focused on harnessing the functions encoded within prokaryotic gene clusters. These are sequenced stretches of DNA in the genome that contain all of the genes necessary and sufficient for that function. These clusters consist of many diverse functions which require around 20 or more genes, including elaborate nano-machines and metabolic pathways. They are applying principles from synthetic biology to rebuild these functions from scratch, in order to master control of the cluster.To do this, they use the same computational tools, genetic circuits, and construction methods developed by the primary, foundational half of the lab. This work represents a step towards whole genome design, where the vision is that the future designer would mix-and-match model clusters to build an entirely synthetic organism (2.9, 2.10).
The Harvard Wyss Institute aims to discover the engineering principles that are used in nature to build living things, and grasps these insights to create biologically inspired materials and devices in hopes to create a more sustainable world.
George Church leads the Synthetic Biology Platform at the Wyss Institute, where he oversees the directed evolution of molecules, polymers, and whole genomes to create new tools with applications in regenerative medicine, bioenergy and synthetic biology. Among his recent work at the Wyss Institute is the development of a technology, called MAGE, for synthesizing whole genes, and potentially whole gene circuits, that is faster, more accurate, and significantly less expensive than current gene synthesis methods.
Synthorx is a biotechnology company that is using synthetic biology to discover and develop new therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines. The company was founded by Avalon Ventures based on important discoveries in Dr. Floyd Romesberg’s lab at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. These discoveries include research published by the Romesberg lab in Nature, describing the first example of in vivo (within the living) replication of a synthetic DNA base pair. By starting with artificial amino acids as base pairs,, Synthorx is using unnatural building blocks and directed evolution to improve the selection and identification of products for drug discovery. Synthorx’s goal is to develop novel proteins, enzymes, RNA and DNA for various life science applications (2.6).
Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI) is a synthetic biology company founded by J. Craig Venter. According to the company, SGI is using its pioneering science and technology to develop products that will affect the world in a positive fashion. SGI founder J.Craig Venter and team have ushered in a new era in synthetic genomics by constructing the first synthetic cell. Now, SGI is using this technology, and developing new and more advanced methods, to create the next generation of renewable and sustainably-produced biology-based products. These applications range from new vaccines and therapeutics to food and nutritional products to humanized organs for transplant to biofuels, biobased-chemicals, and agricultural solutions, SGI is producing products through its own programs and with leading industry partners. SGI is partnered with Exxon Mobil for the production of biofuels. The believe society can depend on science to alleviate many current issues, and SGI is blazing the trail to turn innovative science into life-changing solutions.
As stated on their website, “our imagination is our only limitation and we imagine a world where synthetic biology will transform the world” (2.5).
SynBERC is the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center. With its headquarters at UC Berkeley, SynBERC is a multi-university research center established in 2006 with a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help lay the foundation for synthetic biology. “SynBERC is on a mission to develop the foundational understanding and technology needed to increase the speed, scale, and precision with which we design and build biological solutions; to train new engineers who will specialize in synthetic biology; and to engage policymakers and the public about the responsible advance of synthetic biology.”Though SynBERC federal funding is predicted to end in 2016, the research center has called upon the federal government to launch an interest in synthetic engineering biology. Doing so would further pave the way for a day when biological engineers will be able to systematically assemble biological components such as sensors, signals, pathways, and logic gates in order to build bio-based systems that solve real-world problems in health, energy, and the environment.Keasling, Endy and Church are all part of the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center.
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The intriguing field of Synthetic Biology would have never come to light without the relentless efforts of the renowned individuals and institutions that paved the way for new technologies and ultimtely embraced innovation.
Learn more about these innovators below.
Knight was inspired by seeing cell division of bacteria through transmission electron microscopy. He added: "There are some profound implications. We don't have physical objects that we engineer that reproduce themselves. OK, so maybe computer viruses, but physical objects such as buildings and microprocessors don't have the property that they reproduce themselves." Knight was also fascinated by the remarkable storage capacity that cells have. E Coli, for example, has around four million base pairs of DNA, which rounds to about one megabyte of information stored in a region of a micron. Knight now works at Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based Synthetic Biology company he established with his former MIT graduate students, engineering organisms by design (2.2, 2.3).
Innovators
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"For a safer world, Drew Endy wants everyone to engineer life from the ground up."
“What Craig has been able to do is go from reading the genome to writing the genome.”
-Sammy Farah, president of the Synthetic Genomics Vaccines unit at Synthetic Genomics
Click to Watch Professor Drew Endy give a talk on "Synthetic Biology and Technology"
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Tom Knight
J. Craig Venter
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Did You Know...
The JCVI lovated on UCSD campus in La Jolla, California is the first carbon-neutral laboratory facility in the world? In addition to making strides in Synthetic Biology, Venter and his team are ensuring a change in environmental awareness!
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Synthetic Genomics Inc.
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Stay Updated with Synthetic Genomics on Twitter!
Jay Keasling
During the early 2000s, Keasling led a UC Berkeley research team in using engineered yeast microbes to synthetically produce artemisinin, the powerful anti-malarial drug. In 2004, Keasling received a $42.6 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to further develop his microbial artemisinin technology. This led to a partnership with Amyris, a biotech company that Keasling co-founded. Amyris engineered a strain of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) capable of producing high levels of artemisinic acid, which is the immediate precursor to artemisinin (2.15).
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Christopher Voigt & The Voigt Lab
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Dr. Christopher Voigt is a Biological Engineering professor at MIT, and is co-director of the Center for Integrative Synthetic Biology. His current research is based at MIT, and he is focused on the reprogramming of bacterial organisms to perform coordinated, complex tasks for pharmaceutical and industrial applications. He also has the Christopher Voigt Lab at MIT named after himself.
Check out the interactive Voigt Lab Site below!
Synthorx
George Church & The Wyss Institute
Church is widely recognized in the scientific community for his innovative contributions to genomic science and his many pioneering contributions to chemistry and biomedicine. In 1984, he developed the first direct genomic sequencing method, which resulted in the first commercial genome sequence. He also helped initiate the Human Genome Project in 1984 and the Personal Genome Project in 2005. At his lab at Harvard Medical School the 61-year-old molecular engineer supervises a team of about 90 graduate students, postdoctorals, and visiting scientists, as they delve into new cutting-edge scientific techniques. They are manipulating and engineering DNA, RNA, and proteins to achieve futuristic goals such as developing new medical therapies, creating biofuel technologies, and laying the groundwork for de-extinction. In the future, George Church believes, “almost everything will be better because of genetics and synthetic biology” (2.12, 2.13).
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Watch The Wyss Institute's
"A Technology Revolution"
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