Cell‐free synthetic biology: a bottom‐up approach to discovery by design
Open Access
- 1 January 2006
- journal article
- comment
- Published by EMBO in Molecular Systems Biology
- Vol. 2 (1), 69
- https://doi.org/10.1038/msb4100104
Abstract
Mol Syst Biol. 2: 69 The practitioners of the brand of synthetic biology that lies closest to engineering are fond of quoting the phrase Richard Feynman had written on his blackboard: ‘What I cannot create I do not understand’. This phrase captures both a warning about the limitations of analysis in understanding complex systems and an endorsement of the value of design in the quest for discovery. Analysis, modeling, and simulation have a tendency to focus attention on the details of individual elements and components, whereas the reiterative nature of design requires grappling with the trade‐offs and compromises required to enable system function. The emergence of this system view from design suggests that redesign (or rewriting in the context of evolved systems) is a promising route for understanding the fundamental principles governing the organization of natural genetic systems. Synthetic biology rewriting efforts have usually followed a strategy of constructing deliberately simplified systems to build an understanding of cellular regulatory processes from the bottom‐up (Hasty et al , 2002; Sprinzak and Elowitz, 2005; Andrianantoandro et al , 2006; Guido et al , 2006). Although such rewriting …Keywords
This publication has 81 references indexed in Scilit:
- Activation of Leukemia-associated RhoGEF by Gα13 with Significant Conformational Rearrangements in the InterfaceOnline Journal of Public Health Informatics, 2009
- Trio’s Rho-specific GEF domain is the missing Gαq effector in C. elegansJournal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 2007
- Positive feedback between Dia1, LARG, and RhoA regulates cell morphology and invasionGenes & Development, 2007
- The Gα12-RGS RhoGEF-RhoA signalling pathway regulates neurotransmitter release in C. elegansThe EMBO Journal, 2006
- The G12 family of heterotrimeric G proteins promotes breast cancer invasion and metastasisProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Construction of an in vitro bistable circuit from synthetic transcriptional switchesMolecular Systems Biology, 2006
- Towards synthesis of a minimal cellMolecular Systems Biology, 2006
- Synthetic biology: new engineering rules for an emerging disciplineMolecular Systems Biology, 2006
- Thrombin Protease-activated Receptor-1 Signals through Gq- and G13-initiated MAPK Cascades Regulating c-Jun Expression to Induce Cell TransformationOnline Journal of Public Health Informatics, 2003
- Plexin B Regulates Rho through the Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors Leukemia-associated Rho GEF (LARG) and PDZ-RhoGEFOnline Journal of Public Health Informatics, 2002