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Synthetic Biology Building on Nature's Inspiration: Interdisciplinary Research Team Summaries (2010) / Chapter Skim
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IDR Team Summary 8: What is the role of evolution and evolvability in synthetic biology?
Pages 71-76

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From page 71...
... Natural selection, however, leads to the destruction of synthetic systems that place the organism at a selective disadvantage relative to dysfunctional mutants. Synthetic biology will have to confront this ubiquitous feature of living systems.
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From page 72...
... Synthetic gene circuits: design with directed evolution. Annu Rev Biophys Biomol Struct 2007;36:1-19: http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/ full/10.1146/annurev.biophys.36.040306.132600?
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From page 73...
... Boeke, Johns Hopkins University • Eric Gaucher, Georgia Institute of Technology • Farren Isaacs, Harvard University • Rob Knight, University of Colorado at Boulder •  Tanja Kortemme, UCSF & California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences • Norman Packard, ProtoLife Inc. • Casim Sarkar, University of Pennsylvania • Michael Sismour, Harvard University • H
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From page 74...
... Engineering principles provide methods for evaluating processes and how to monitor processes to achieve a desired outcome. For example, mechanical engineers design and implement sophisticated systems using machinery to create a specific outcome or product.
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From page 75...
... These unusual examples emphasize the point that we do not yet know how to begin research with a specific application in mind. If we are to design systems that fight cancer or enhance the immune system, we must develop ways to initiate research even if the exact process is unknown.
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From page 76...
... A universal fitness readout would simplify matters by allowing researchers to compare evolutionary processes for a variety of applications. In order to create this kind of generalizability, the team argued that scientists must develop ways to predict and screen for sequences that are consistent with multiple objectives, what they called "multi-objective massively parallel optimization." This would require the creation of libraries from which scientists could choose components that they know would act in specific, predicable ways in a multitude of conditions.
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  • overall fitness

  • acad sci
  • rapid optimization
  • evolutionary principles
  • evaluating processes
  • engineering methods


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