Technology or method
Recombinant DNA
DNA joined from different sources, the starting point of genetic engineering and of medicines such as recombinant insulin.
Synthetic biology
Designing and building new biological parts, circuits and systems.Source: Cameron et al., 2014
Technology or methodEmerging research
How Synthetic biology connects
Synthetic biology uses
Synthetic biology includes the example
Technology or method
Gene circuits
Engineered networks of genes that behave like switches or clocks. Landmark examples were built in bacteria in 2000.
Idea or model
Minimal cell
A cell stripped to the fewest genes it needs. One synthetic version runs on 473 genes, 149 of which had unknown functions.
Emerging researchTechnology or method
Metabolic engineering
Rewiring a microbe's chemistry to make useful molecules, such as a precursor of the antimalarial drug artemisinin in yeast.
Synthetic biology raises questions of
Ethics and safety
Biosafety
Risk-based practices and containment that protect people and the environment when working with biological agents.
Studied in
Your progress
Sources & further reading
The explanations on this page are our own summaries of these sources. Follow a link to read the original; if anything here disagrees with it, the original wins. How we choose and check sources.
A brief history of synthetic biology (opens the original in a new tab)
Cameron DE, Bashor CJ, Collins JJ (2014). Nature Reviews Microbiology 12:381-390.
Peer-reviewedReview