Engineering ecosystems and synthetic ecologies.
Summary of "Engineering ecosystems and synthetic ecologies."
Microbial ecosystems play an important role in nature. Engineering these systems for industrial, medical, or biotechnological purposes are important pursuits for synthetic biologists and biological engineers moving forward. Here we provide a review of recent progress in engineering natural and synthetic microbial ecosystems. We highlight important forward engineering design principles, theoretical and quantitative models, new experimental and manipulation tools, and possible applications of microbial ecosystem engineering. We argue that simply engineering individual microbes will lead to fragile homogenous populations that are difficult to sustain, especially in highly heterogeneous and unpredictable environments. Instead, engineered microbial ecosystems are likely to be more robust and able to achieve complex tasks at the spatial and temporal resolution needed for truly programmable biology.
Affiliation
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Massachusetts, USA.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Molecular bioSystems
ISSN: 1742-2051
Pages:
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22722235
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c2mb25133g
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Synthetic Biology
A field of biological research combining engineering in the formulation, design, and building (synthesis) of novel biological structures, functions, and systems.
Sanitary Engineering
A branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction, and maintenance of environmental facilities conducive to public health, such as water supply and waste disposal.
Biomedical Engineering
Application of principles and practices of engineering science to biomedical research and health care.
Maintenance And Engineering, Hospital
Hospital department whose primary function is the upkeep and supervision of the buildings and grounds and the maintenance of hospital physical plant and equipment which requires engineering expertise.
Wetlands
Environments or habitats at the interface between truly terrestrial ecosystems and truly aquatic systems making them different from each yet highly dependent on both. Adaptations to low soil oxygen characterize many wetland species.
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