Synthetic Biology: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #573

by Jamie A. Davies

Synthetic biology is one of the 21st century's fastest growing fields of research, as important for technology as for basic science. Building on traditional genetic engineering, which was restricted to changing one or two genes, synthetic biology uses multi-gene modules and pathways to make very significant changes to what cells can do. Synthetic biologists aim to have an impact in fields as diverse as drug manufacture, biofuel production, tackling pollution, and medical diagnostics. Further ahead, synthetic biology may even make possible the long-standing goal of creating new life from non-living starting materials.

This Very Short Introduction provides a concise explanation of what synthetic biology is, and how it is beginning to affect many fields of technology. Jamie Davies also discusses the considerable controversies surrounding synthetic biology, from questions over the assumption that engineering concepts can be applied to living systems easily, to scepticism over the claims for commercial promise, fears that the dangers of engineering life are worse than its benefits, and concerns over whether humans should be designing living systems at all.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Science, Biology, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2018

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jamie A. Davies delivers a very readable introduction to synthetic biology. For best results you'll probably want to have some familiarity with genetics, biochemistry, ethics, and perhaps a bit of the debate between vitalists (dualists) vs. materialists. If anything's unclear there are Wikipedia articles and other titles in the VSI series to provide background (e.g., Genes: A Very Short Introduction; Genomics: A Very Short Introduction; Viruses: A Very Short Introduction; and others).

Perhaps my favorite part of the book described the "remote-control worm" - an unfortunae individual of Caenorhabditis elegans made to crawl around and change direction on a scientist's command. There was no mention in the book as to when we may expect remote-control people although sometimes it seems Fox News has already figured that out.

In the last chapter, Davies expresses skepticism about the feasibility of a pathogen engineered to target only individuals of a particular race or ethnicity, given that the clustering of genetic similarity in human population groups is "only" statistical. But that only seems to mean that such a weapon could have at most similarly statistical accuracy. Given that there are genetic markers enabling highly-accurate determination of an individual's race (very handy in forensic science), it seems at least hypothetically possible for an engineered pathogen to target individuals with those same markers. And if it's not perfectly accurate, what terrorist would care? In every war there are friendly-fire casualties. And ordinary terrorists occasionally blow themselves up by accident when they make bombs. It would seem to me that if someone were crazy enough to build a weapon to target persons of a given race or ethnicity, such a person might not demand high precision. Not many terrorists seem to worry much about collateral damage.

In any case, even if it's not possible to target members of an ethic group, how about individuals or biological relatives? A pathogen designed to spread easily in a population, producing no symptoms in everybody except for one high-value targeted individual would seem to have plenty of uses. Instead of sending in the Seals to assassinate Osama bin Laden, you could just have an infected agent sneeze on his kids.

I suspect a larger problem with such an engineered pathogen would be evolution. When microbes get into the wild they start evolving. There would be strong selective pressure on a microbial species to target more hosts, rather than to hurt its own chances by remaining narrowly targeted.

[Lalit Singh Tomar · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a wonderful piece of writing ..... True to its name , it's a very good short introduction to Synthetic Biology to a layman.

Detailed review will follow

[Raoul Grouls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction into the topic.
Detailed enough to learn a lot, broad enough to get a good overview of everything that’s happening (which is mindblowing).

Could have taken ethical issues (like the spreading of modified dna) more seriously though. Still 5 stars because it’s still a really nice intro into the subject

[Faisal Alkhaldi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. Brief enough to be read on a flight but detailed enough to capture the essence of synthetic biology.