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Synthetic Biology: Creating a New Form of Life

This summer I came across an article with the following headline: ”Artificial life likely in 3 to 10 years.” It is the type of headline that, as a future-oriented guy, gets my heart pumping. I wasn’t disappointed. In the opening paragraph, an expert explained that synthetic biology, “could change our world in pretty fundamental ways.” And no less an authority than Craig Venter—the man who sequenced the first human genome and was the co-founder of Celera—has said that the artificial life which synthetic biology will create will be “a very important philosophical step in the history of our species.” He then added, “We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. This gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before.”

In short, synthetic is precisely the type of new emerging technology that exponential executives need to be aware of because it could have a profound impact on everything from energy to pharmaceuticals.

In its simplest form, synthetic biology is all about redesigning living machines from “off-the-shelf” chemical ingredients. But unlike genetic engineering which involves the transfer of individual genes from one species to another, synthetic biology envisions the assembly of novel microbial genomes from a set of standardized parts.

The goal is to “redesign” the genomes of existing microbes to either make them more efficient or to program them to carry out new functions. Both possibilities are better explained using real-world examples.

For instance, today, the process for making ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen are well-understood. This understanding, however, has not yet translated into an overly efficient manufacturing process. In the case of ethanol, fermenting the sugar from which the ethanol comes is the easy part. Unfortunately, most microbes still die when the alcohol contents gets too high. Synthetic biology promises the ability to isolate genomes in other living creatures and then transfer them into existing microbes in order to make them stronger. These new and unique genomes, in turn, will allow the microbes to last longer or, possibly, even breakdown new substances—including corn stover, switchgrass, and wood residue—to make ethanol in a more cost-effective manner.

This skill transcends ethanol. Theoretically, new microbes could be designed to turn different feedstocks into any number of biofuels including biodiesel, butanol and hydrogen. The potential is so vast that the U.S. Government is now investing $125 million in the Joint BioEnergy Institute to develop synthetic biology and BP has invested $500 million in the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois to research the field. BP has even invested an undisclosed amount in Craig Venter new synthetic biology start-up Synthetic Genomics.

Another huge opportunity awaits in the field of pharmaceuticals. Amyris Biotechnologies, a promising synthetic biology start-up located in Emeryville, California, is working on applying synthetic biology techniques to program yeast cells to manufacture artemisinic acid—a natural product that is very effective in treating malaria. (Worldwide, malaria is still estimated to kill more than 1 million people annually.) At the current time, the compound, which is extremely difficult to extract and very expensive, is taken from the sweet wormwood, a plant indigenous to only Vietnam and China. If, however, Amyris can successful engineer a metabolic pathway to make artemisinic it can reduce the cost of the drug artemisinin significantly.

Of course, this is just one of hundreds of potential applications for synthetic biology. A variety of other drugs, including the anti-cancer drug taxol and the anti-HIV compound prostratin, also rely heavily on natural sources that are limited in nature and could benefit from the field’s ability to quickly and cheaply manufacture effective drugs.

Beyond this capability lies the ability to engineer enzymes that could lead to the creation of designer protein-based drugs that resist rapid degradation in the human body by reacting only at higher temperatures or in higher levels of acidity—characteristics that allow less of a drug to be used in the body as well as suggest that the drug might also be delivered to its intended target with greater accuracy.

Synthetic biology is not yet ready for the prime time, but advances are occurring rapidly. This summer a researcher from the J. Craig Venter Institute demonstrated a proof-of-principle of synthetic biology by transforming one species of bacteria into another species by transplanting its complete set of DNA. 

Experts in the field also note that synthetic biology is undergoing exponential growth. For starters, sequencing technology such continues to provide a wealth of information. Second, sophisticated computational modeling such as IBM has developed is allowing synthetic biologists to verify that their new life forms will perform as intended. And third, the tools for both measuring and fabricating engineered biological systems are continually getting cheaper.

It probably goes without saying that if synthetic biologists can manufacture new life forms which are capable of self-replication and even of evolving that there also exists the potential for both unintended consequences and willful malfeasance. This is true and this reality will elicit a great deal of concern, and government regulatory bodies are sure to keep a close eye on the field.

From a business perspective, it is difficult to assess how exactly the development of the will play out due regulatory and oversight issues. The backlash against genetically-modified organisms, especially in Europe, serves as reminder of the dangers; but, at the same time, it is useful to recall that in the mid-1970’s the field of recombinant DNA also elicited a great deal of concern—most of which never materialized.

Like most technologies, synthetic biology is a doubled-edged sword. It has the potential to transform energy and pharmaceuticals in beneficial ways, but it is also introducing new life forms that raise legitimate ethical and societal issues. What is undeniable is that the field of synthetic biology is undergoing rapid growth. The question, therefore, from my perspective is not so much if synthetic biology will impact the fields of energy, agriculture and medicine as when it will do these things.

At this stage, the best thing to do is monitor the activity of the field’s most promising start-ups—companies such as Amyris Biotechnologies and Synthetic Genomics—and watch if either announce new breakthroughs or establish new relationships with leading corporations in the energy or pharmaceutical sectors. Before that time comes, however, it would behoove the exponential executive to bone up on the field and understand the many ways in which synthetic biology will “change our world in pretty fundamental ways.”

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Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future technology and future trends, nanotechnology, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and trade associations.

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