Synthetic biology: promises and challenges

Abstract

Mol Syst Biol. 3: 158 Life is evolving fast (at least in the first world) and the latest technological gadget becomes outdated even before we have learnt how to use it. In this respect, science is no exception. The new buzzword ‘Systems Biology’ entered the vocabulary of the scientific community only a few years ago. Now that every biologist is aware of it and almost everyone seems to be doing it, an even newer buzzword has entered the scientific arena, ‘Synthetic Biology’ (see as an example a sample of recent reviews on the topic, Benner and Sismour, 2005; Endy, 2005; Andrianantoandro et al , 2006; Heinemann and Panke, 2006). We are still arguing about the true definition of Systems Biology, the more so since it became fashionable for the funding agencies and therefore any research project should include it in the proposal, and now we need to define Synthetic Biology and explain to the non‐specialist what the difference is between the two. Is Synthetic Biology something really new or is it simply Biotechnology (another old and outdated buzzword) in new packaging? What are the achievements so far, what can we expect from it and are any biosafety dangers lurking ahead? How is Europe doing in this field compared with other countries? In this brief article we will attempt to provide some answers to those questions. A consensus definition drafted by a group of European experts defined Synthetic Biology as follows: ‘Synthetic biology is the engineering of biology: the synthesis of complex, biologically based (or inspired) systems, which display functions that do not exist in nature. This engineering perspective may be applied at all levels of the hierarchy of biological structures—from individual molecules to whole cells, tissues and organisms. In essence, synthetic biology will enable the …