Synthetic biology, a revolution in reimagining life
When engineering and computer technology are applied to the science that studies everything related to life and organisms, such as biology, the result is a discipline that could represent a revolution that can reimagine life.
In 2010, a paper published in the journal Science and Nature caused a sensation by announcing that first self-replicating synthetic genome and that, once inserted inside a bacterium, the synthetic genome is capable of controlling the metabolic behavior of the host. In other words, it was developed using bioinformatics methods.
“We began to dream that if we could know how chemical elements communicate and interact with each other, and that if such elements could be chemically synthesized, you could design a life similar to how a building is designed. It was enough to draw up a plan and place the parts according to the plan,” says the article “Synthetic biology: scientific and social aspects” by Carlos Alonso and Manuel Soto from the Severo Ochoa Center for Molecular Biology of the Autonomous University of Madrid.
So the potential of synthetic biology is that redesigns existing biological systems in nature by changing some characteristics to create new functions. “Synthetic biology allows us to solve major problems in our society, such as developing new treatments, producing biofuels, increasing agricultural productivity, or eliminating waste and pollutants,” says Benjami Oller Salvia, professor and coordinator of the group. ChemSynBio research from the Faculty of Bioengineering IQS – Ramon Llull University.
As the expert explains, this interdisciplinary field This allows us to manipulate and build biological systems to better understand the fundamental principles of life, which is critical for the subsequent development of applied science.
Last November it became known that a group of researchers from the UK and the USA managed to create a yeast strain with over 50% of your DNA is synthetic which survives and reproduces just like wild strains of yeast. “We have rewritten the operating system of yeast, ushering in a new era of biological engineering, moving from modifying a few genes to designing and creating complete genomes,” said Patrick Yizhi Tsai from the University of Manchester, who led the project. A discovery that could revolutionize synthetic biology.
An unprecedented future
In 2020, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to researchers Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for what is known as Genetic scissors CRISPR. This technology allows for efficient gene editing, meaning researchers can change DNA with extremely high precision.
In the webinar “Future and Life: Keys to Synthetic Biology” by the Bankinter Innovation Foundation, synthetic biology expert from the University of Pompeu Fabra Marc Guell notes that CRISPR “has revolutionized our ability to interfere with the human genome, opening the way to individual treatment for a wide range of diseases, including cancer and genetic disorders.
In this regard, this discipline is designed to offer unprecedented solutions in various fields, one of which is healthcare. “Synthetic biology helps developing more effective treatments and with fewer side effects. This even makes it possible to develop treatments for certain diseases that currently have no cure, as well as to better tailor treatment to each patient, promoting personalized medicine,” says Benjami Oller Salvia.
Thus, the expert continues, synthetic biology allows “create new molecules and gain access to new therapeutic modalities such as antibodies for immunotherapy, viruses or mimetics for therapeutic purposes, vaccines or cell therapies. “This discipline is also creating tools that can enable tissue and organ regeneration.”
Great potential and great challenge
Like any other technology, the potential of synthetic biology also comes with significant challenges. One of them, as Oller Salvia admits, is in “complexity of biological systems, about which we still have a lot to understand. Constant technological progress makes molecular and cellular systems increasingly precise, safe and scalable. “Teaching and outreach to the general public are essential to providing a strong background in understanding and harnessing the potential of synthetic biology.”
Another obstacle, as with any scientific research, is base “Because research and development of biological systems is usually expensive,” says Oller Salvia. Thus, in 2022, investments in relation to GDP in R&D in Spain allowed the country to take 21st place among EU countries. Thus, Spain allocated 1.14% of its gross domestic product, compared to countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland or Austria, which invested more than 2%. In terms of the number of researchers per inhabitant, Spain also held the same position in 2022, with a ratio of 0.34% per hundred inhabitants. Sweden, which tops the ranking, registered 0.98%.
Along with all of the above, one of the main obstacles to synthetic biology is safety and ethics. Especially if technologies such as artificial intelligence come into play, since we will be talking not only about modifying biological systems, but also about creating synthetic proteins. According to Guell (on behalf of the Bankinter Innovation Foundation), “The combination of synthetic biology and artificial intelligence transforms synthetic biologists from impostors who adapt what they find in nature into innovators capable of creating truly new solutions. This change promises to move medicine forward.” both in environmental sustainability and in how we understand and use the language of life: DNA.
This can lead not only to the cure of diseases, but also to creation of synthetic pathogens. For example, last year, a team at MIT tasked a group of non-scientist students with figuring out whether they could ask a large language model like ChatGPT to help them cause a pandemic. In just one hour, the models came up with four possible pandemic pathogens that could be created from synthetic DNA using reverse genetics.
A paper published in the journal Science earlier this year noted that, like all major breakthroughs, the technology is vulnerable to misuse and the production of dangerous biological agents.
“Ethical considerations are fundamental in a discipline based on the modification of living organisms, such as synthetic biology. the great impact this discipline can have on human health and environment. Therefore, basic principles such as respect for life, responsibility and caution must be taken into account. We must also try to ensure that progress in this discipline is as transparent as possible and that proposed improvements benefit everyone equally, for which education and dissemination are essential,” concludes Benjami Oller Salvia.