Synthetic and Systems Biology: Toward Achieving Impossible Missions and Deciphering Human Complex Disease Genetics

Abstract

Many pioneering works have inspired researchers to stay up-todate on synthetic and system biology. Several cases that were originally thought to be exceptionally difficult, if not impossible, have been carried out successfully, such as Craig Venter’s creation of the world’s first synthetic life form. At a system level, nucleic reprogramming succeeded in frog half a century ago (reviewed in [1]); but doubts about whether or not this was impossible lingered until 40 years later, when a cocktail of four transcriptional factors systematically reprogrammed the somatic cells to stem cells [1-3]. Other cases include that telomerase reactivation may lead to the reversal of tissue degeneration in aged telomerase-deficient mice [4] and muscle-derived stem/progenitor cell dysfunction acts as a healthspan and lifespan limiting factor for murine progeria reversal [5] Here, we focus on the latest impossible or exceptionally difficult missions, plus those of the future, i.e. decoding the complex diseases genetics and their possible modified nutritional, tour and other benign environmental treatments, which most of us could easily have and best exercise. Some complex diseases currently considered “difficult – to be addressed” are largely diseases of aging. For instance, starting for relatively simple neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s disease (PD) , today, no drugs exist to address the underlying pathology; for autoimmune diseases (ADs), no one is even sure what causes such outcomes; and for cancer, though billions of dollars have been invested and millions of articles published, there is still a long way to go to deal with them both theoretically and therapeutically to satisfy researchers and sufficiently match the expectations of patients. Successful creation of disease models and screening of targets are expected to be identified for such diseases and thus help slow or even prevent disease progression.