81Synthetic Biology: Parts, Devices and Applications, First Edition. Edited by Christina Smolke.
© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. Published 2018 by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
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A popular subject of hype, synthetic biology (SynBio), is described as a domain
that will solve many of the catastrophic consequences of the human demographic
explosion. Yet, the vision that stems from the engineering stance of this avatar of
biology is seldom emphasized [1]. SynBio is uncommonly fruitful because taking
life as an engineer would allow us to invert the classic view, where structure
predates function, by placing function first [2, 3]. Innovation is a built‐in
consequence of engineering because it commonly originates from a top‐down
approach. It is based on functional analysis [4, 5], a methodology that endeavors
to uncover, list, and organize the needed functions before they are implemented
in the design of a particular contraption. This chapter illustrates the constructive
role of engineering with a sample of SynBio‐related functions relevant to the
architecture of the genetic program connected with its associated host cell.
Following trends developed by other investigators involved in the development
of SynBio [6], we hope that introducing the logic of engineering will spur novel
types of studies that will, eventually, result in successful applications of SynBio
and more generally develop the future of biology with a fresh mind‐set.
5.1 A Prerequisite to Synthetic Biology: An Engineering
Definition of What Life Is
Engineering has tight relationships with what we recognize as science, created in
Greece some three millennia ago. To see how it contributes to conceptual devel
opments in our contemporary understanding of life, let us briefly recapitulate
how engineering was associated with the history of science [7]. While inventing
writing, our predecessors began to organize the world they live in by making
inventories: herds of animals, bushels of grain, and stars in the heaven. The out
come of this effort had to be organized so as to retrieve and make the best use of
the corresponding knowledge, when and where needed. Maps of the sky, of the
Functional Requirements in the Program and the Cell
Chassis for Next-Generation Synthetic Biology
Antoine Danchin^1 , Agnieszka Sekowska^1 , and Stanislas Noria^2
(^1) Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition, 47 boulevard de l’Hôpital, Paris, 75013, France
(^2) Fondation Fourmentin-Guilbert, 2 avenue du Pavé Neuf, Noisy le Grand, 93160, France