R. Meyers – Synthetic Biology (2015)

Автор: R. Meyers
Название книги: Synthetic Biology
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Биология
Страницы: 755
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

These two volumes contain a selection of updated articles from the acclaimed Meyers Encyclopedia of Molecular Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, the most authoritative resource in cell and molecular biology, combined with new articles by “founding fathers” in the field.
The work is divided into six sections:
+ Biological Basis
+ Modeling
+ Modular Parts and Circuits
+ Synthetic Genomes
+ Diseases and Therapeutics
+ Chemicals Production.
Ideally suited as advanced reading for students and postdocs, and with all current research trends covered by an impressive number of leading figures in the field, this is the first choice reference for research institutions.
Synthetic Biology is an emerging field that integrates all biological subsystems with
the objective of engineering, constructing or modifying biological functions, organelles,
cellular structures, simple cells and creating whole novel organisms with designed
properties. This is accomplished by application of engineering principles such as
hierarchical design, modular parts, isolation of unrelated functions and standard
interfaces as well as systems biology and all aspects of molecular biology. Synthetic
Biology extends genetic engineering to focus on whole systems rather than individual
genes and primary gene products, and will ultimately provide diagnostic tools, novel
methods for production of therapeutics and strategies for treatment of diseases. Our
compendium is written for university undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and
investigators at research institutes. Our Board of 11 Nobel Laureates approved our
overall approach and content and our selection of articles was validated and enhanced
by four reviewers from major research institutions. There are 23 peer reviewed articles
at a length of over 700 pages and as such is the largest in depth, up to date treatment
presently available.
The 23 detailed articles organized into six sections: Biological Basis; Modeling;
Modular Parts and Circuits; Synthetic Genomes; Diseases and Therapeutics; and
Chemicals Production. In addition, there is an introductory article entitled Synthetic
Biology. The Biological Basis section defines key areas that support synthetic
biology approaches including Emergence of the First Cells (Protocells), Regulation
of Gene Expression, the Interactome and also Microbiomes; the Modeling section
provides mathematical and computer programming expertise including Dynamics of
Biomolecular Networks, Computer Simulation of the Cell and the SynBioSS Designer
Modeling Suite, which support the following section on Modular Parts and Circuits. This
section covers key practical applications and advances such as Synthetic Gene Networks,
DNA Origami Nanobots, RNAi Synthetic Logic Circuits for Sensing, Information
Processing and Actuation, Synthetic Hybrid Biosensors and Synthetic Biology in
Metabolic Engineering. The Synthetic Genomes section includes articles on Minimal
Gene-Set Machinery; Production of the Mitochondrial Genome and Chromosomal
DNA Segments, and Synthetic Genetic Polymers Functioning to Store and Propagate
Information. As part of the introductory article, Sanjay Vashee, of the J. Craig Venter
Institute, covers the recent work on the formation of a bacterial cell that is controlled by a
chemically synthesized genome. This work was accomplished at the Institute where the
author is located. The next two sections cover important end use applications of synthetic
biology. Diseases and Therapeutics covers synthetic biological improvements in use
of stem cells in regenerative medicine and new approaches for vaccine development
utilizing synthetic biology and finally the final section on Chemicals Production includes
synthetic biology approaches for production of diols, biofuels and antibiotics.
We are pleased that many of the major synthetic biology research institutions participated
in preparation of our book, e.g. the Departments of Biological Engineering, the
Synthetic Biology Center of the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science,
the MITMicrobiology Program, and theMIT Computational and Systems Biology
Program all of theMassachusetts Institute of Technology; the ETH Zurich, the National
Institutes of Health, and the J. Craig Venter Institute.
Our team hopes that you, the reader, will benefit from our hard work – finding the
content useful in your research and education. We wish to thank our Managing Editor,
Sarah Mellor as well as our Executive Editor, Gregor Cicchetti for both their advice and
hard work in the course of this project.
Larkspur, California, January 2015 Robert A. Meyers