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Synthetic Biology

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology

  • 377 Accesses

Synonyms

Synthetic genomics

Definition

Synthetic biology is the design and construction of biological components (e.g., enzymes, gene circuits, and whole cells) from scratch or from standardized parts.

Overview

The term “synthetic biology” was first used in 1980 by Barbara Hobom to describe genetically engineered bacteria using recombinant DNA technology. In 2000, the term reappeared again by Eric Kool and others at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society to refer to synthesis of unnatural chemical products (e.g., organic molecules) as an extension of synthetic chemistry [1].

Although the scope of synthetic biology has explosively expanded in the last decade, synthetic biology can be best described as “efforts to redesign life,” that is, the design and construction of biological components (e.g., enzymes, gene circuits, and whole cells) using living cells. Similar approaches have already been taken long before the advent of synthetic biology, for example, by genetic...

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, UK

    Soichiro Tsuda

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  1. Soichiro Tsuda
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Correspondence to Soichiro Tsuda .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biomimetics (NLB²), Ohio State University Nanoprobe Lab. for Bio- & Nanotechnology, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Bharat Bhushan

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Tsuda, S. (2015). Synthetic Biology. In: Bhushan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6178-0_139-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6178-0_139-2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6178-0

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