Synthetic biology of minimal systems

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Petra Schwille - , Chair of Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Author)
  • Stefan Diez - , Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Author)

Abstract

Synthetic biology is a concept that has developed together with, or slightly after, "systems biology". But while systems biology aims at the full understanding of large systems by integrating more and more details into their models, synthetic biology phrases different questions, namely: what particular biological function could be obtained with a certain known subsystem of reduced complexity; can this function be manipulated or engineered in artificial environments or genetically modified organisms; and if so, how? The most prominent representation of synthetic biology has so far been microbial engineering by recombinant DNA technology, employing modular concepts known from information technology. However, there are an increasing number of biophysical groups who follow similar strategies of dissecting cellular processes and networks, trying to identify functional minimal modules that could then be combined in a bottom-up approach towards biology. These modules are so far not as particularly defined by their impact on DNA processing, but rather influenced by core fields of biophysics, such as cell mechanics and membrane dynamics. This review will give an overview of some classical and some quite new biophysical strategies for constructing minimal systems of certain cellular modules. We will show that with recent advances in understanding of cytoskeletal and membrane elements, the time might have come to experimentally challenge the concept of a minimal cell.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)223-242
Number of pages20
JournalCritical reviews in biochemistry and molecular biology / CRC
Volume44
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 2009
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 19635039
ORCID /0000-0002-0750-8515/work/142235571

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Artificial cells, Biological oscillations, In vitro reconstitution; molecular motors, Microdroplets, Model membranes