Design-driven, multi-use research agendas to enable applied synthetic biology for global health

Abstract

Many of the synthetic biological devices, pathways and systems that can be engineered are multi-use, in the sense that they could be used both for commerciallyimportant applications and to help meet global health needs. The on-going development of models and simulation tools for assembling component parts into functionally-complex devices and systems will enable successful engineering with much less trial-and-error experimentation and laboratory infrastructure. As illustrations, I draw upon recent examples from my own work and the broader Keasling research group at the University of California Berkeley and the Joint BioEnergy Institute, of which I was formerly a part. By combining multi-use synthetic biology research agendas with advanced computer-aided design tool creation, it may be possible to more rapidly engineer safe and effective synthetic biology technologies that help address a wide range of global health problems.

Governing synthetic biology for global health through responsible research and innovation

“…To 'ensure access to affordable malaria treatments in the developing world' the Amyris cofounders established a non-profit organization, Zagaya, responsible for licensing and for raising the money to pay for and apply the technology (Amyris 2012a, b;Zagaya 2012). As Carothers points out in this issue, the example of artemisinin also nicely illustrates the potential of SynBio as a tool-and-parts-based multi-use platform technology, because it is produced on the basis of an isoprenoid metabolic pathway that has been engineered in yeast and can subsequently be re-engineered to serve the production of other isoprenoid-based chemicals with significant commercial value (Carothers 2013).…”

“…The starting point in his work are not particular global health challenges, as in the case of the GCE programme discussed by Rooke, but the development of tools and platforms with the potential to further SynBio research and innovation in a diversity of ways. As Carothers points out 'creating approaches that minimize the time and resources required to engineer novel systems will be essential, particularly for applications targeting diseases and conditions of poverty in low and middle-income countries' (Carothers 2013). With that aim in mind, he proposes a design-driven approach focusing on tools for the modelling and construction of microbial metabolic pathways which may serve as multi-use platforms that can be both 'engineered to produce marketable chemicals and (subsequently) reengineered to produce low cost global health materials' (Carothers 2013).…”

“…As Carothers points out 'creating approaches that minimize the time and resources required to engineer novel systems will be essential, particularly for applications targeting diseases and conditions of poverty in low and middle-income countries' (Carothers 2013). With that aim in mind, he proposes a design-driven approach focusing on tools for the modelling and construction of microbial metabolic pathways which may serve as multi-use platforms that can be both 'engineered to produce marketable chemicals and (subsequently) reengineered to produce low cost global health materials' (Carothers 2013). Such platforms might even create, in Carothers' (optimistic) view, opportunities to reengineer devices and systems for a given global health application 'through collaborations between researchers in scientifically advanced countries, scientists in lower-resource settings and members of the Do-ItYourself bio-community'.…”

Do-it-yourself biology: challenges and promises for an open science and technology movement

“…(3) Scientific. Even though DNA assembly standards and computer-aideddesign (CAD) softwares enable fast prototyping of The DIYbio community has proposed numerous substitutes to make biology cheaper to perform for amateurs Do-it-yourself biology 121 biological systems (Carothers 2013), achieving the engineering of robust and optimized solutions is very hard, even for large companies, like Amyris, who possess the money, the okay from regulators and the technicians. However as progress in CAD software permits greater predictability in the design process, and as the cost of consumables and equipment incrementally decreases, it will also encourage a larger crowd of amateurs to turn to genetic engineering.…”

The synthetic biology puzzle: a qualitative study on public reflections towards a governance framework

“…The general objective is to generate and assemble functional modular components for the development of novel applications and processes within fields like agriculture, energy production and medicine. Beyond the first achievements within a synthetic version of the antimalarial compound Artemisinin (Carothers 2013) there are several SB-projects, which aim at contributing to the vaccine development for communicable diseases such as the Human Immunodeficiency—(Rerks-Ngarm et al 2009; Hansen et al 2013) or the Hepatitis C virus (Liang 2013). Beyond such scientific developments from the medical sector, SB is also supposed to offer novel opportunities for the creation of new industries with profound economic implications for the major economies (Klöck 2015).…”