Synthetic Biology: Caught

Novel artificial genetic systems with twelve bases instead of four. 1 Bacteria that can be programmed to take photographs 2 or form visible patterns. 3 Cells that can count the number of times they divide. 4 A live polio virus " created from scratch using mail-order segments of DNA and a viral genome map that is freely available on the Internet. " 5 These are some of the remarkable, and occasionally disturbing, fruits of " synthetic biology, " the attempt to construct life starting at the genetic level. In terms of their scale and ambition, these efforts go beyond traditional recombinant DNA technology. Rather than simply transferring a pre-existing gene from one species to another, synthetic biologists aim to make biology a true engineering discipline. In the same way that electrical engineers rely on standard capacitors and resistors, or computer programmers rely on modular blocks of code, synthetic biologists wish to create an array of modular biological parts that can be readily synthesized and mixed together in different combinations. MIT has a " Registry of Standard Biological Parts [which] supports this goal by recording and indexing biological parts that are currently being built and offering synthesis and assembly services to construct new parts, devices, and systems. " 6 Systems, devices, parts, and DNA represent descending levels of complexity – systems consist of devices, and devices consist of parts composed of DNA. The idea behind a registry of parts is that these parts can, and should, be recombined in different ways to produce many different types of devices and systems. Although the Registry currently contains physical DNA, its developers believe that, as DNA synthesis technology becomes increasingly inexpensive, 7 the Registry will be composed largely of information and specifications which can be executed in synthesizers just as semiconductor chip designs are executed by fabrication firms. Synthetic biology has already produced important results, including more accurate AIDS tests and the possibility of unlimited supplies of previously scarce drugs for malaria. 8 Proponents hope to use synthetic organisms to produce not only medically relevant chemicals but also a large variety of industrial materials, including biofuels such as hydrogen and ethanol. 9 At the same time, synthetic biology has engendered numerous policy concerns. From its inception, commentators have raised issues ranging from bioethical and environmental worries to fears of bioterrorism – indeed, the Central Intelligence Agency released a report in 2003 called " The …