On the road to synthetic life: the minimal cell and genome-scale engineering

Synthetic biology employs rational engineering principles to build biological systems from the libraries of standard, well characterized biological parts. Biological systems designed and built by synthetic biologists fulfill a plethora of useful purposes, ranging from better healthcare and energy production to biomanufacturing. Recent advancements in the synthesis, assembly and “booting-up” of synthetic genomes and in low and high-throughput genome engineering have paved the way for engineering on the genome-wide scale. One of the key goals of genome engineering is the construction of minimal genomes consisting solely of essential genes (genes indispensable for survival of living organisms). Besides serving as a toolbox to understand the universal principles of life, the cell encoded by minimal genome could be used to build a stringently controlled “cell factory” with a desired phenotype. This review provides an update on recent advances in the genome-scale engineering with particular emphasis on the engineering of minimal genomes. Furthermore, it presents an ongoing discussion to the scientific community for better suitability of minimal or robust cells for industrial applications.