TY - JOUR
T1 - Synthetic biology
T2 - Understanding biological design from synthetic circuits
AU - Mukherji, Shankar
AU - Van Oudenaarden, Alexander
N1 - Funding Information:
We apologize to our colleagues whose work was not discussed. This work was supported by grants from the US National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
PY - 2009/12
Y1 - 2009/12
N2 - An important aim of synthetic biology is to uncover the design principles of natural biological systems through the rational design of gene and protein circuits. Here, we highlight how the process of engineering biological systems from synthetic promoters to the control of cell-cell interactions has contributed to our understanding of how endogenous systems are put together and function. Synthetic biological devices allow us to grasp intuitively the ranges of behaviour generated by simple biological circuits, such as linear cascades and interlocking feedback loops, as well as to exert control over natural processes, such as gene expression and population dynamics.
AB - An important aim of synthetic biology is to uncover the design principles of natural biological systems through the rational design of gene and protein circuits. Here, we highlight how the process of engineering biological systems from synthetic promoters to the control of cell-cell interactions has contributed to our understanding of how endogenous systems are put together and function. Synthetic biological devices allow us to grasp intuitively the ranges of behaviour generated by simple biological circuits, such as linear cascades and interlocking feedback loops, as well as to exert control over natural processes, such as gene expression and population dynamics.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70450223309&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nrg2697
DO - 10.1038/nrg2697
M3 - Review article
C2 - 19898500
AN - SCOPUS:70450223309
SN - 1471-0056
VL - 10
SP - 859
EP - 871
JO - Nature Reviews Genetics
JF - Nature Reviews Genetics
IS - 12
ER -