7 Ways Synthetic Biology Could Improve Your Life

It's like biological Lego - but a lot more complex. Synthetic biology uses the essence of engineering to not only design and build new biologically based parts, but also to redesign things that already exist in nature.

People have been building on nature for thousands of years, selectively breeding plants and animals with desirable features. Thanks to advances in genetics and cell biology, scientists are now able to use biology's building blocks to produce useful chemicals, medicines and even fuels.

Synthetic biology is being used today to help meet some of the world's biggest challenges.

Remember in Star Trek, how Dr McCoy could just wave a gizmo called a tricorder over an unfortunate crewmember to diagnose what space-disease was afflicting them?

Scientists at the University of Birmingham are using synthetic biology to to make their own tricorder to work out whether food is contaminated with E.coli - bacteria which can cause food poisoning.

The device detects the moment E. coli disturbs an aligned series of tiny bacteria-viruses called bacteriophages, by moving to create an electric signal.

Eventually they want to create an iPhone-sized gadget which your doctor can scan you with to pick up different pathogens. It probably won’t be able to pick up the Klingon Augment Virus though.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow are looking to synthetic biology to create an artificial ‘leaf’ – capable of converting the sun’s energy into liquid fuel.

Plants take in solar energy, concentrate it, and use it to split apart water into hydrogen and oxygen. In doing so, oxygen is released and hydrogen is locked into a fuel.

“We’re trying to take energy from the sun and trap it so that it can be used when it’s needed most. We’re working to devise a system that can recreate photosynthesis artificially, on a grand scale to create fuel rather than electricity.” – Professor Richard Cogdell, University of Glasgow.

The artificial system could also improve natural photosynthesis to make better use of the sun’s energy for our own needs.

The research could kill two birds with one stone – creating tech which utilises carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to create a sustainable fuel.

In 2001 an outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth disease led to thousands of cattle being slaughtered and cost the UK billions of pounds to get under control.

At the moment animals are vaccinated with dead forms of the disease-causing virus, but this means huge amounts have to be grown before being killed and there is a risk of escape.

Scientists at the University of St Andrews are using synthetic biology to redesign the virus, changing the genetic code so that it can infect animals without causing the disease. These ‘live attenuated viruses’ stimulate the animal’s immune system and so protects them for life, and are much cheaper and safe to produce.

Ultimately they are if successful the new vaccines could lead to the eradication of the disease completely, joining smallpox and rinderpest as diseases no longer out there in the wild.

Nitrogen is essential for all life on earth. That’s why farmers spend so much money on fertilisers, which can be damaging for the environment. The amount of nitrogen in soil can have a huge impact on the growth and development of plants, especially in crops grown for food, feed, fibre and fuel.

Nature has a cure. Enter ‘biological nitrogen fixation’. Bacteria, hidden in the roots of plants such as peas and beans (known as legumes) change nitrogen in the air into ammonia, which the plant uses for growth.

Researchers from the John Innes Centre in the UK are developing a way to reduce the need for fertiliser – by turning to synthetic biology. Using knowledge gained over the years about how legumes exploit nitrogen, scientists hope to create new cereal crops to feed a growing population that can fix their own nitrogen.

A world without antibiotics doesn’t bare thinking about. Through overuse and incomplete treatment, bacteria are evolving to become resistant to many well-known antibiotics. Unfortunately, turning newly discovered antibiotics into medicine takes time - a luxury we do not have.

Researchers at the University of Manchester are collaborating with industry to unlock the potential of a new, far-reaching antibiotic that could help to prevent an apocalyptic drug-resistant future.

“Bacteria have evolved to produce thousands of chemicals to fight each other. Using synthetic biology, we can take this information and rewrite it to produce more diverse antibiotics for the future. Losing our ability to treat infections with cheap and efficient antibiotics would be a major public health disaster, so we must fight to stay ahead in the race.” – Professor Eriko Takano, University of Manchester

E.coli is notorious for making you sick, but now a team of scientists from the University of Exeter with support from Shell have developed a method to make the bacteria produce diesel on demand.

Amazingly, the diesel produced by special strains of E.coli bacteria is almost identical to conventional diesel used to power cars. E.coli naturally turns sugars into fats, but artificial fuel oil can be created by harnessing this natural process.

The technology still faces challenges before coming to a town near you, but exploring this new method of creating fuel could help to meet the increasing demand for low carbon fuel in an environmentally friendly way.