Excerpt

Many potential applications of synthetic and systems biology are relevant to the challenges associated with the detection, surveillance, and responses to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. On March 14 and 15, 2011, the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Forum on Microbial Threats convened a public workshop in Washington, DC, to explore the current state of the science of synthetic biology, including its dependency on systems biology; discussed the different approaches that scientists are taking to engineer, or reengineer, biological systems; and discussed how the tools and approaches of synthetic and systems biology were being applied to mitigate the risks associated with emerging infectious diseases. Through invited presentations and discussion, participants explored the ways in which synthetic and systems biology are contributing to drug discovery, development, and production; vaccine design and development; and infectious disease detection and diagnostics. In addition, workshop participants considered how synthetic biology could be used to engineer, or reengineer, microbial host cells to detect environmental toxins, produce carbon-neutral fuels, and produce novel raw materials.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• FORUM ON MICROBIAL THREATS
• BOARD ON GLOBAL HEALTH
• Reviewers
• Acknowledgments
• Workshop Overview
  • THE SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS OF SYNTHETIC AND SYSTEMS BIOLOGY
  • PROGRESS IN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: FROM THE TOGGLE SWITCH TO THE SYNTHETIC CELL
  • HOW SYSTEMS AND SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY APPROACHES ARE BEING USED TO UNDERSTAND AND MANAGE BIOFILMS
  • THE PROMISE OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
  • CURRENT CHALLENGES IN SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
  • WORKSHOP OVERVIEW REFERENCES
• Appendix A Contributed Manuscripts
  • A1 COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
  • A2 SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: APPLICATIONS COME OF AGE
  • A3 THE GENOME AS THE UNIT OF ENGINEERING
  • A4 SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY—A NEW GENERATION OF BIOFILM BIOSENSORS
  • A5 SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY AND THE ART OF BIOSENSOR DESIGN
  • A6 SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF ADAPTIVE IMMUNITY BY UTILIZATION OF HIGH-THROUGHPUT TECHNOLOGIES
  • A7 THE NEW SCIENCE OF SOCIOMICROBIOLOGY AND THE REALM OF SYNTHETIC AND SYSTEMS ECOLOGY
  • A8 CREATION OF A BACTERIAL CELL CONTROLLED BY A CHEMICALLY SYNTHESIZED GENOME
  • A9 SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY “FROM SCRATCH”
  • A10 MANUFACTURING MOLECULES THROUGH METABOLIC ENGINEERING
  • A11 NOVEL APPROACHES TO COMBAT BIOFILM DRUG TOLERANCE
  • A12 NEXT-GENERATION SYNTHETIC GENE NETWORKS
  • A13 ENGINEERING SCALABLE BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
  • A14 METABOLIC SYSTEMS BIOLOGY
  • A15 SYSTEMS VACCINOLOGY
  • A16 SOLVING VACCINE MYSTERIES: A SYSTEMS BIOLOGY PERSPECTIVE
  • A17 SYSTEMS BIOLOGY OF VACCINATION FOR SEASONAL INFLUENZA IN HUMANS
  • A18 SYNTHETIC SYSTEMS AS MICROBIAL THREATS: PREDICTABILITY OF LOSS-OF-FUNCTION MUTATIONS IN ENGINEERED SYSTEMS
  • A19 ISOPRENOID PATHWAY OPTIMIZATION FOR TAXOL PRECURSOR OVERPRODUCTION IN ESCHERICHIA COLI
  • A20 PROGRAMMING CELLS: TOWARDS AN AUTOMATED ‘GENETIC COMPILER’
  • A21 PROKARYOTIC GENE CLUSTERS: A RICH TOOLBOX FOR SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
  • A22 THE SILICON TRYPANOSOME
• Appendixes B-F
  • Appendix B Agenda
  • Appendix C Acronyms
  • Appendix D Glossary
  • Appendix E Forum Member Biographies
  • Appendix F Speaker Biographies

Rapporteurs: Eileen R. Choffnes, David A. Relman, and Leslie Pray

Financial support for this project was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and the Fogarty International Center; U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army: Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System, Medical Research and Materiel Command, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; U.S. Agency for International Development; American Society for Microbiology; sanofi pasteur; Burroughs Wellcome Fund; Pfizer, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline; Infectious Diseases Society of America; and the Merck Company Foundation.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2011. The Science and Applications of Synthetic and Systems Biology. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.