Redesigning Medicine Using Synthetic Biology

Drawing inspiration from nature, synthetic biology offers exciting opportunities to transform the future of medicine.

Bringing together engineers, physicists and molecular biologists, the field of synthetic biology uses engineering principles to model, design and build synthetic gene circuits and other molecular components that don’t exist in the natural world. Researchers can then piece together these biological parts to rewire and reprogram living cells – or build cell-free systems – with novel functions for a variety of applications.

“For me, the most exciting thing about synthetic biology is finding or seeing unique ways that living organisms can solve a problem,” says David Riglar, Sir Henry Dale research fellow at Imperial College London. “This offers us opportunities to do things that would otherwise be impossible with non-living alternatives.”

Scientists are harnessing the power of synthetic biology to develop a variety of medical applications – from powerful drug production platforms to advanced therapeutics and novel diagnostics.

“By approaching biology as an engineering discipline, we are now beginning to create programmable medicines and diagnostic tools with the ability to sense and dynamically respond to information in our bodies,” says Jim Collins, Termeer professor of medical engineering and science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).


These novel medicinal products could be endowed with synthetic elements that can control the localization, timing and dosage of their activities. This offers significant advantages over conventional therapeutics in terms of flexibility, specificity and predictability – opening exciting opportunities for precision medicine.

A toolkit for synthetic biology

In recent years, rapid decreases in the cost of DNA sequencing and synthesis – and the development of gene-editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9 – have enabled researchers to engineer biological systems with unique and increasingly complex functions.

“The combination of these tools has provided us with unprecedented opportunities to apply synthetic biology to study living systems and understand how they work,” states Riglar.

The underlying premise of synthetic biology is that living systems can be broken down into a library of individual components. Engineering principles are then used to design and construct these biological parts into new systems for a wide variety of industrial, agricultural, pharmaceutical and environmental applications. But in practice, these bioengineering approaches are not always straightforward.

Website Link: molecularbiologist.org/

Contact Mail ID : contact@molecularbiologist.org

Nomination Link  : https://molecularbiologist.org/award-nomination/?ecategory=Awards&rcategory=Awardee

Follow On:

Twitterhttps://x.com/Camilla532645                                                                   

Blogger https://molecularconference.blogspot.com/ 

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCehrwFGWKbQa0mKDDNJCwvA                 

Pinterest https://in.pinterest.com/molecularbiologistawards/                   

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/feed/?trk=onboarding-landing               

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/molecularawards

#SyntheticBiology #RedesigningMedicine #BiotechInnovation #MedicalBreakthroughs #GeneticEngineering #FutureOfMedicine #Bioengineering #HealthcareRevolution #PersonalizedMedicine #CRISPR #SyntheticGenomics #BiologicalDesign #GeneTherapy #BiomedicalResearch #LifeSciences #SyntheticDNA #MedicalInnovation #DiseaseCure #TherapeuticEngineering #Biomedicine #NextGenHealthcare #Bioscience #MedicineOfTheFuture #BioTechRevolution #CellEngineering #RegenerativeMedicine #PharmaceuticalInnovation #BiologyReimagined #HealthTech #MedicalAdvancements



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Hybrid Cell Discovery Shakes Up Neuroscience

Image
Neuroscientists have unveiled a new hybrid cell, straddling the line between the well-known neurons and glial cells in the brain.Previously, glial cells, especially astrocytes, were believed to merely support neuron functions. However, recent research highlights the ability of these cells to release neurotransmitters and directly influence neural circuits.This groundbreaking discovery challenges traditional beliefs about brain cell functionality and paves the way for novel therapeutic strategies. Key Facts: A new hybrid cell type, located between neurons and astrocytes, has been identified that can release neurotransmitters. Modern molecular biology techniques confirmed that astrocytes possess machinery necessary for the rapid secretion of glutamate. Disruption of these hybrid cells’ functionality impacts memory, has links with epilepsy, and offers therapeutic insights for Parkinson’s disease. Source: University of Lausanne Neuroscience is in great upheaval. The two major families of c...
Read more

Why Vitamin D Deficiency Can Raise Autoimmune Disease Risk

Image
  The body can naturally produce vitamin D when skin is exposed to sunlight, but this process declines significantly in winter. There also aren't many food sources of vitamin D. But vitamin D is very important to the body. The  vitamin D receptor  can be found in many different tissues, and while the vitamin's roles in bone health and calcium level maintenance are  well known , less is understood about its other functions, such as how it relates to immunity. Several immune cells have vitamin D receptors and gene activity in those cells can be affected by the vitamin. Low levels of vitamin D have also been associated with a variety of autoimmune disorders including inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis vulgaris, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes. Studies  have also shown  that vitamin D supplements can help lower the risk of autoimmune disease. A new study  reported in  Science Advances  has provided new insights in...
Read more

Small brain-penetrating molecule offers hope for treating aggressive brain tumors

Image
  The study found that gliadin acts on specific cellular pathways to selectively kill glioblastoma cells without harming normal cells. Moreover, the compound can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, which highlights its potential as a treatment option for glioblastoma. Background Glioblastoma is one of the most lethal forms of brain cancer and is known for its resistance to standard therapies. Despite significant advances in cancer therapies , currently used immunotherapies and targeted therapies have had minimal success in improving survival rates in glioblastoma. This resistance is believed to stem from several challenges unique to glioblastoma, such as its complex cellular heterogeneity and immune-evasive characteristics. Additionally, crossing the blood-brain barrier to reach tumor cells remains a significant obstacle. Researchers are exploring novel metabolic pathways as potential therapeutic targets. Unlike typical cancer drugs that inhibit cell division, some emergi...
Read more