合成生物学及其在生物技术中的应用进展

合成生物学是一门21世纪生物学的新兴学科,它着眼生物科学与工程科学的结合,把生物系统当作工程系统"从下往上"进行处理,由"单元"(unit)到"部件"(device)再到"系统"(system)来设计,修改和组装细胞构件及生物系统.合成生物学是分子和细胞生物学、进化系统学、生物化学、信息学、数学、计算机和工程等多学科交叉的产物.目前研究应用包括两个主要方面:一是通过对现有的、天然存在的生物系统进行重新设计和改造,修改已存在的生物系统,使该系统增添新的功能.二是通过设计和构建新的生物零件、组件和系统,创造自然界中尚不存在的人工生命系统.合成生物学作为一门建立在基因组方法之上的学科,主要强调对创造人工生命形态的计算生物学与实验生物学的协同整合.必须强调的是,用来构建生命系统新结构、产生新功能所使用的组件单元既可以是基因、核酸等生物组件,也可以是化学的、机械的和物理的元件.本文跟踪合成生物学研究及应用,对其在DNA水平编程、分子修饰、代谢途径、调控网络和工业生物技术等方面的进展进行综述.

Synthetic Biology: Its Applications in Biotechnology

Synthetic biology is an emerging biological discipline in the 21st century. It focuses on the combination of biological sciences and engineering sciences. The engineering formalism was used to design, modify and assemble cellular components into biological systems in the "bottom-up" way that comes up from "unit" to "parts" then to "System". Synthetic biology is a multidisciplinary study of molecular and cellular biology, evolutionary systematics, biochemistry, informatics, mathematics, computer and engineering. Recently, synthetic biology has been redefined as for: (I) the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems that do not already exist in the nature, and (II) the re-design of existing, natural biological systems for novel function or products. As an established post-genome method, synthetic biology emphasizes on the synergistic integration of computational biology and experimental biology for the existing or new life forms. It must be noticed that the elements used in synthetic biology for new cellular structure or function may not only be genes, nucleic acids and other biological components, but also be chemical, mechanical and physical components. This article is a review for the most recently progress in the fundamental research and applications in synthetic biology. In particular, attentions were paid on synthetic biology study on the programming at the DNA level, molecular modification, metabolic pathways, regulatory networks, and industrial biotechnology and other aspects.