Synthetic biology for mammalian cell technology and materials sciences

21.01.2012

Gübeli RJ, Burger K, Weber W

Biotechnol Adv. 2013 Jan;31(1):68-78

Biotechnol Adv.        online article

The synthetic reconstruction of natural gene networks and the de novo design of artificial genetic circuits provide new insights into the cell's regulatory mechanisms and will open new opportunities for drug discovery and intelligent therapeutic schemes. We will present how modular synthetic biology tools like repressors, promoters and enzymes can be assembled into complex systems in order to discover small molecules to shut off antibiotic resistance in tubercle bacteria and to design self-sufficient therapeutic networks. The transfer of these synthetic biological modules to the materials science field enables the construction of novel druginducible biohybrid materials for biomedical applications.