The Design and Engineering of Synthetic Genomes

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Genet

Specialty Genetics

Date 2024 Nov 7

PMID 39506144

Authors

Joshua S James

Junbiao Dai

Wei Leong Chew

Yizhi Cai

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Synthetic genomics seeks to design and construct entire genomes to mechanistically dissect fundamental questions of genome function and to engineer organisms for diverse applications, including bioproduction of high-value chemicals and biologics, advanced cell therapies, and stress-tolerant crops. Recent progress has been fuelled by advancements in DNA synthesis, assembly, delivery and editing. Computational innovations, such as the use of artificial intelligence to provide prediction of function, also provide increasing capabilities to guide synthetic genome design and construction. However, translating synthetic genome-scale projects from idea to implementation remains highly complex. Here, we aim to streamline this implementation process by comprehensively reviewing the strategies for design, construction, delivery, debugging and tailoring of synthetic genomes as well as their potential applications.

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