Editorial

Abstract

We are honoured to be writing this Editorial for the first issue of Engineering Biology. This is a new initiative from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and comes at an exciting time for the field of synthetic biology/engineering biology. Arguably, synthetic biology started around 16 years ago at the turn of the century; but it has developed rapidly over the intervening period. Two important reasons for this are the ability to read and chemically write DNA, and the associated rise in the importance of the bioeconomy – of which synthetic biology/engineering biology is a key driver. The field of synthetic biology/engineering biology, primarily, brings together the disciplines of biology and engineering, but, also, includes other fields – e.g. computing, chemistry, physics and mathematics. The IET decided to launch the new open-access journal, Engineering Biology, to reflect the fact that synthetic biology/engineering biology is, fundamentally, now widely recognised as a field of engineering. Whilst the biological aspects of the field are, of course, critically important, biology is a fundamental science – whilst engineering biology is applied science. Perhaps a useful comparison is to compare the difference between chemistry and chemical engineering – both of which are extremely important disciplines. More specifically, molecular biology can be thought of as a fundamental science discipline. Biology, almost by definition, is highly individualistic and involves a great deal of manual input. Consequently, the results of biological research are, typically, variable and often difficult to reproduce. Often, the methodology and results tend to be qualitative rather than quantitative. In contrast, synthetic biology/engineering biology has a very different approach. Engineering biology is highly automated (one example being DNA foundries). Engineering biology is a key driver of the bioeconomy and, consequently, results need to be reliable and reproducible by multiple groups. Such an approach involves technical standards, sophisticated methods of metrology and a high degree of quantitation. Underlying this is the need for detailed modelling and mathematical descriptions of processes. All of these components are required for the level of reliability and reproducibility necessary for industrial translation. The aim of Engineering Biology is to reflect the rapid developments in research in the area of synthetic biology/engineering biology. However, in addition, the journal will address industrial translation, as this is an important dimension to the field. The format of the journal is designed to allow the rapid turnaround of good papers that cover material across a wide range of topics in synthetic biology/engineering biology. Engineering Biology is designed to address not only fundamental research, but, also, application projects – both academic and industrial. An important aspect of the journal is that these areas will be coupled to peer review, constructive feedback to authors and rapid publication. The journal is also fully open access with a range of publishing licence options available to the authors to meet the publishing requirements of their funding bodies. The journal is supported by an editorial board of international experts from across the world including Europe, the United States, Asia and Australasia, with their fields comprehensively covering all aspects of synthetic biology/engineering biology. We are very pleased to be including a range of topics within this inaugural issue: Kitney and Freemont present a brief review of the state of the field of engineering biology, reflecting on the main types of papers that the journal is designed for: research papers, policy papers and industrial papers. Responsible research innovation and standards are addressed in the article by Tait. A new approach to the responsible development of innovative products, processes and services by companies and organisations operating in the bioeconomy and related industry sectors is proposed. A number of review articles touch on some different aspects of the field: Pasula and Lim present a mini review of engineering nanoparticle synthesis using microbial factories. The article by T Wang et al., reviews the production of recombinant human collagen which is a promising alternative to animal collagen for healthcare applications Evans and Ratcliffe review synthetic biology in relation to regenerative medicine. You can also read some of the latest developments in the field in a number of research articles: H Wang et al. present their latest work towards the design of predictable genetic circuits through the development of two biophysical models for promoter and RBS. Reynolds et al. address the issue of part characterisation within the context of a DNA foundry and the associated automation. Wipat et al. present POLEN: a Cloud-based system that facilitates synthetic biology design workflows that operate asynchronously. The paper by Bowyer et al. addresses the mechanistic modelling of a recombinase-based two-input logic gate. Logic gates in synthetic biology have many applications, eg in relation to advanced biosensors. Biological logic gates, unlike their electronic equivalents, are not limited binary inputs and outputs and are therefore capable of providing temporal control of gene expression. The article by Beal shows how the complexity of the biochemical processes involved in gene expression drives an emergent log-normal distribution of expression levels, important for the analysis of gene expression data and the engineering of biological organisms. Following the publication of this first issue, we are looking forward to establishing and growing Engineering Biology. Consequently, we would like to invite groups from across the world to contribute their latest research. Specifically, we are not only interested in direct engineering biology themes, but adjacent technology. This includes automation and ICT relevant to the field, as well as a range of application areas such as biosensors, fine chemicals and bioremediation. An additional important element of the journal will be papers that describe the development of new industrial processes, which are based in engineering biology that will replace existing industrial processes. In this regard, the whole process of translating laboratory based research to industry is a very important aspect of the journal. A key element of this is industrial scaling and the processes involved. Operating at industrial scales typically requires methodology far different from the methodology that resulted in the research being successful in the laboratory. Examples of this are fermentation technology and the design of experiments. We consider both to be important areas for papers. We would like to thank the IET for inviting us to be the Editors-in-Chief of this exciting new journal. For us it is a significant responsibility to promote this new field. The range of the editorial board has been invaluable in acquiring and processing papers for this and subsequent issues. We very much hope that the journal will reach and be of interest to a much wider audience than those people currently involved in engineering biology. Richard I Kitney is Professor of Biomedical Systems Engineering; and Co-Director and Co-Founder of the Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation. He Chaired The Royal Academy of Engineering Inquiry into Synthetic Biology and is a member of the Ministerial Leadership Council for Synthetic Biology. Kitney is recognised as a leading research worker in the field of synthetic biology and, with Professor Paul Freemont, has been responsible for developing the Imperial College Hub for Synthetic Biology – which is now recognised as one of the leading international centres in the field. In 2013, they were successful in winning the national competition to establish the UK national industrial translation centre for synthetic biology – SynbiCITE. Kitney has published over 300 papers in the fields of synthetic biology, mathematical modelling, biomedical information systems, and medical imaging and has worked extensively in and with industry. Kitney was made a Fellow of the World Technology Network in 1999 for his innovative work in the fields of health and medicine. He was made an Academician of the International Academy of BioMedical Engineering in September 2003 (this is the highest honour bestowed by the International Federation of BioMedical Engineering Societies). He is also a Fellow of AIMBE, the America Academy of BioMedical Engineering. In 2006 he was made an Honorary Fellow of both The Royal College of Physicians and The Royal College of Surgeons. In March 2016 Kitney was made a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh. In June 2001, Kitney was awarded The Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to Information Technology in Healthcare. Chueh Loo Poh is an Associate Professor with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore. He is also a Principal Investigator of NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), leading the development of NUS biofoundry. He obtained his PhD in Bioengineering from Imperial College London (2007) and B.Eng. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from NTU Singapore (2002). His current research interests in Synthetic Biology include synthetic gene circuits design and automation, modelling of biological systems for design, and computer aided design (CAD) tools for SynBio. His group has been reprogramming microbes for medical and industrial applications, including engineering microbes to fight infectious causing pathogen, to tackle metabolic diseases, and to control biofilm formation for bioproduction. He has also been actively involved in the international synthetic biology competition (iGEM) since 2006. He has received a number of awards including the Tan Chin Tuan Fellowship in 2012 and the NTU Excellence in Teaching award in 2010.