Standards for the Design and Engineering of Modular Biological Devices

模块化生物装置的设计和工程标准

• 批准号: BB/F018746/1
• 负责人: Alistair Elfick
• 金额: $ 23.98万
• 依托单位: University of Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2008 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FF018746%2F1
• 关键词: Standards; Design; Engineering; Modular; Biological

Synthetic biology is a new discipline in which scientists are applying techniques more commonly found in engineering to the design and construction of biological devices which have programmed function. The approach uses small parts known as BioBricks which can be quickly and easily joined together to give a desired function. This parts based approach was inspired by standardisation, something commonplace in engineering and everyone's daily lives. Standards can be found everywhere from the supermarket, a kilo of apples weighs the same anywhere, to the building site, a door made in Wales will fit a Scottish doorframe in an English wall! There have been a number of synthetic biological devices made, most of which have shown unusual and interesting behaviour such as pulsing fluorescence or sensing the edge of a shadow for example. We are on the cusp of a revolution in which many valuable products, from drugs to fuel, will be synthesised within biological organisms which have been reprogrammed to achieve this. To help enable this technology there has been the realisation that the standards are in urgent need of refinement. There are many unanswered questions regarding the standards which need to be addressed. For example, how can we measure a part's performance in such a way that everyone can know how the part will function in their particular device? Another example might be how do can we build a computer simulation to predict device performance from these descriptions of parts? We have assembled a group of Britain's leading synthetic biologists who will meet regularly to discuss, define and develop robust standards for synthetic biology. This group will meet in the UK and in the US with invited experts in the field. Importantly, we will consider other aspects of parts based synthetic biology such as who owns intellectual property rights to parts and how the field should be regulated. To assist us in this we have been joined by leading social scientists and lawyers who have established expertise in biotechnology and genomics. The results of the discussions will help to communicate the agreed standards throughout the synthetic biology community. We will also create resources such as validated protocols for synthetic biologists to use. These activities have significant potential to energise the synthetic biology community both at home and abroad and help to put the UK at the front of synthetic biology in Europe.

合成生物学是一门新的学科，科学家们正在将工程学中更常见的技术应用于具有编程功能的生物设备的设计和建造。这种方法使用被称为生物砖的小部件，这些部件可以快速而轻松地连接在一起，提供所需的功能。这种基于部件的方法的灵感来自标准化，标准化在工程和每个人的日常生活中都很常见。标准随处可见，从超市，一公斤苹果在任何地方都一样重，到建筑工地，威尔士制造的门将适合英格兰墙上的苏格兰门框！已经制造了许多合成生物装置，其中大多数都表现出了不寻常和有趣的行为，例如脉冲荧光或感知阴影的边缘。我们正处于一场革命的风口浪尖，从药物到燃料，许多有价值的产品将在生物有机体内合成，生物有机体已被重新编程以实现这一目标。为了帮助实现这项技术，人们已经意识到，这些标准迫切需要完善。关于需要解决的标准，还有许多悬而未决的问题。例如，我们如何测量部件的性能，以使每个人都能知道部件在他们的特定设备中将如何工作？另一个例子可能是，我们如何才能建立一个计算机模拟来根据这些部件的描述来预测设备性能？我们召集了一群英国领先的合成生物学家，他们将定期会面，讨论、定义和制定合成生物学的可靠标准。该小组将在英国和美国与该领域的特邀专家会面。重要的是，我们将考虑基于部件的合成生物学的其他方面，例如谁拥有部件的知识产权以及该领域应该如何监管。为了在这方面协助我们，我们加入了在生物技术和基因组学方面拥有专业知识的领先社会科学家和律师的行列。讨论的结果将有助于将商定的标准传达给整个合成生物学社区。我们还将创建资源，如有效的方案，供合成生物学家使用。这些活动具有极大的潜力，可以激发国内外合成生物界的活力，帮助英国走在欧洲合成生物学的前列。

项目成果

Five rules of thumb for post-ELSI interdisciplinary collaborations

• DOI: 10.1080/23299460.2016.1177867
• 发表时间: 2016-01-01
• 期刊: JOURNAL OF RESPONSIBLE INNOVATION
• 影响因子: 3.9
• 作者: Balmer, Andrew S.;Calvert, Jane;Martin, Paul
• 通讯作者: Martin, Paul

From "Experiments of Concern" to "Groups of Concern": Constructing and Containing Citizens in Synthetic Biology

• DOI: 10.1177/0162243917735382
• 发表时间: 2020-11-01
• 期刊: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY & HUMAN VALUES
• 影响因子: 3.1
• 作者: Frow, Emma