Synthetic biology aims to rationally design and functionalize living organisms with synthetic elements and engineering principles. It can be traced back to microbial engineering in the early 1970s, and with the development of “-omics” research and the progress of multiple novel biotechnologies, we now obtain the resources and tools to create, control and program biological outcomes also in multicellular organisms including vertebrates. Synthetic engineering in vertebrate systems is inevitably complex and challenging, however, the diverse and comprehensive cellular characteristics in vertebrates provide the basis for their applications in a broad field of biomedical research, we can now design and engineer cells with new synthetic sensors and effectors to help detect, prevent, and treat diseases that our body’s natural system cannot handle properly.
Recent advancements in synthetic biology show the following trends: 1) from proof-of-concept designs to practical manufacturing systems with more clinical and medical value; 2) from non-specific and blunt manipulation of synthetic elements to more accurate, traceless and multi-component sensing and regulation; 3) improvements in standardization, modularity and automation of combinatory circuits with feedback loops and digital logic gates; 4) further integration of biotechnology with material science, information science, and other disciplines.
In diagnosis, to improve the efficiency and functions of ultrasound scanning in living animals, the artificial acoustic genes coding air-filled protein nanostructures were introduced into mammalian cells to enable high-resolution reporting of gene expression and enzyme activity in vivo. In animal models of multiple human diseases, optogenetic tools have been extensively tested to program complex cellular behaviors to treat diabetes, obesity, neural diseases, etc. Meanwhile, a diversity of novel small-molecule inducible elements was also reported, which can be used to modify synthetic cells to achieve the similar purposes. Particularly, in the field of cancer diseases, (pre-)clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T therapy for both solid and fluidic tumor diseases were thriving, with or without additional genetic editing or logic gate response programs.
This Research Topic aims to collect the latest progress and future perspectives of synthetic biology in vertebrate model system, and its advancements in therapeutic and diagnostic treatments for human diseases. We welcome submissions that cover several aspects of vertebrate model modifications: new technologies (gene editing, synthetic receptor, self-organization structure etc.); new system integrations (with other disciplines); and new model systems (mammalian and non-mammalian vertebrate system), and their implication for biomedical applications:
1) Use of synthetic systems in mechanistic investigation of human diseases e.g., metabolic diseases, neural diseases and cancer.
2) Novel synthetic architectures for improvement of molecular and cellular diagnostic tools and capabilities.
3) Development of synthetic gene circuits for various disease models and more precise drug target discovery.
4) Implication for advanced medical treatments using programmed gene and cell-based therapies.
It is worth noting that the traditional fields of synthetic biology, including the works performed in microbial and invertebrate systems, and their applications in agriculture, environment, energy, and fermentation, are not the focus of this topic.
Synthetic biology aims to rationally design and functionalize living organisms with synthetic elements and engineering principles. It can be traced back to microbial engineering in the early 1970s, and with the development of “-omics” research and the progress of multiple novel biotechnologies, we now obtain the resources and tools to create, control and program biological outcomes also in multicellular organisms including vertebrates. Synthetic engineering in vertebrate systems is inevitably complex and challenging, however, the diverse and comprehensive cellular characteristics in vertebrates provide the basis for their applications in a broad field of biomedical research, we can now design and engineer cells with new synthetic sensors and effectors to help detect, prevent, and treat diseases that our body’s natural system cannot handle properly.
Recent advancements in synthetic biology show the following trends: 1) from proof-of-concept designs to practical manufacturing systems with more clinical and medical value; 2) from non-specific and blunt manipulation of synthetic elements to more accurate, traceless and multi-component sensing and regulation; 3) improvements in standardization, modularity and automation of combinatory circuits with feedback loops and digital logic gates; 4) further integration of biotechnology with material science, information science, and other disciplines.
In diagnosis, to improve the efficiency and functions of ultrasound scanning in living animals, the artificial acoustic genes coding air-filled protein nanostructures were introduced into mammalian cells to enable high-resolution reporting of gene expression and enzyme activity in vivo. In animal models of multiple human diseases, optogenetic tools have been extensively tested to program complex cellular behaviors to treat diabetes, obesity, neural diseases, etc. Meanwhile, a diversity of novel small-molecule inducible elements was also reported, which can be used to modify synthetic cells to achieve the similar purposes. Particularly, in the field of cancer diseases, (pre-)clinical trials of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T therapy for both solid and fluidic tumor diseases were thriving, with or without additional genetic editing or logic gate response programs.
This Research Topic aims to collect the latest progress and future perspectives of synthetic biology in vertebrate model system, and its advancements in therapeutic and diagnostic treatments for human diseases. We welcome submissions that cover several aspects of vertebrate model modifications: new technologies (gene editing, synthetic receptor, self-organization structure etc.); new system integrations (with other disciplines); and new model systems (mammalian and non-mammalian vertebrate system), and their implication for biomedical applications:
1) Use of synthetic systems in mechanistic investigation of human diseases e.g., metabolic diseases, neural diseases and cancer.
2) Novel synthetic architectures for improvement of molecular and cellular diagnostic tools and capabilities.
3) Development of synthetic gene circuits for various disease models and more precise drug target discovery.
4) Implication for advanced medical treatments using programmed gene and cell-based therapies.
It is worth noting that the traditional fields of synthetic biology, including the works performed in microbial and invertebrate systems, and their applications in agriculture, environment, energy, and fermentation, are not the focus of this topic.