Can engineering approaches tame the complexity of living systems? Roberta Kwok explores five challenges for the field and how they might be resolved.
References
Purnick, P. E. M. & Weiss, R. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 10, 410-422 (2009).
Kelly, J. R. et al. J. Biol. Engineer. 3, 4 (2009).
Gardner, T. S., Cantor, C. R. & Collins, J. J. Nature 403, 339-342 (2000).
Ellis, T., Wang, X. & Collins, J. J. Nature Biotechnol. 27, 465-471 (2009).
Ro, D.-K. et al. Nature 440, 940-943 (2006).
Tan, C., Marguet, P. & You, L. Nature Chem. Biol. 5, 842-848 (2009).
An, W. & Chin, J. W. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 8477-8482 (2009).
Elowitz, M. B. & Leibler, S. Nature 403, 335-338 (2000).
Stricker, J. et al. Nature 456, 516-519 (2008).
Danino, T., Mondragón-Palomino, O., Tsimring, L. & Hasty, J. Nature 463, 326-330 (2010).
Additional information
See Editorial, page 269 .
Roberta Kwok is a freelance writer in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Related links
Related links
Related links in Nature Research
Related external links
Registry of Standard Biological Parts
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kwok, R. Five hard truths for synthetic biology. Nature 463, 288–290 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/463288a
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/463288a
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Irrational methods suggest indecomposability and emergence
European Journal for Philosophy of Science (2023)
-
A microfluidic optimal experimental design platform for forward design of cell-free genetic networks
Nature Communications (2022)
-
Building programmable multicompartment artificial cells incorporating remotely activated protein channels using microfluidics and acoustic levitation
Nature Communications (2022)
-
Plant–microbe hybrid synthesis provides new insights for the efficient use of Macleaya cordata
World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology (2022)
-
Improved Extracellular Enzyme-mediated Production of 7,10-dihydroxy-8(E)-octadecenoic Acid by Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering (2022)