Editorial: Synthetic Biology-Guided Metabolic Engineering

Metabolic Burden: Cornerstones in Synthetic Biology and Metabolic Engineering Applications.

Engineering cell metabolism for bioproduction not only consumes building blocks and energy molecules (e.g., ATP) but also triggers energetic inefficiency inside the cell. The metabolic burdens on microbial workhorses lead to undesirable physiological changes, placing hidden constraints on host productivity. We discuss cell physiological responses to metabolic burdens, as well as strategies to i...

Editorial–Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology builds upon over 35 years of genetic engineering. For example, in the 1970s methods were invented for using enzymes to rework DNA. Applying these tools, bacteria were engineered to yield relevant products such as growth hormones and insulin. Although many pioneering engineers were involved in such work, still more missed this biotechnology revolution or did not consider geneti...

Editorial – Synthetic Biology: Engineering Complexity and Refactoring Cell Capabilities

1 Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation, Imperial College London, London, UK, 2 Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK, 3 SYNBIOCHEM, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, 4 LISBP, INSA, INP, UPS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France, 5 MR792, Ingénierie des Systèmes Biologiques et des Biop...

Editorial: Synthetic biology and bioinformatics.

Natural products have been a prolic source of antibacterial and anticancer drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. However, despite the pressing need for new drugs, the rate of natural product discovery has been diminishing. Fortunately, the genomics revolution has made it clear that natural product-producing microorganisms have the genetic capacity to produce a far greater number of natural pro...

Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering approaches to produce biofuels.