Synthetic Biology: Overview and Applications

Abstract Biology is the study of living beings, and it mainly deals with its functions. Biological and chemical systems have overlaps as they both comprise chemicals. During the early part of 20 th century, chemists started to design and produce new chemical substances and consequently a new field of synthetic chemistry was established. Similarly, synthetic biology involves designing and creating new biological substances, such as new genes, proteins, new organs, or even a whole organism. Therefore, the field of synthetic biology is in many ways an extension of synthetic chemistry. It involves engineering a living system comprised of known chemicals that would be alternates for existing living things but easier to understand. Therefore, they can be used to test unanswered questions of the complexity of living systems. Synthetic biology requires a precision comparable to that involved during the evolution of mathematical equation which follows a logical course where the subsequent equation arises from the preceding one. Many existing, evolving, and novel technologies are essential for synthetic biology. These include poly nucleotide and DNA synthesis and sequencing, PCRs, and recombinant DNA technologies. The ultimate in synthetic biology is to create a living organism from nonliving chemicals, which can be directed to behave in a specific manner to provide answers to questions that we cannot get from existing life forms. There are many concerns regarding ethical and legal aspects as well as the safety and security of the prospective outcomes. In this chapter, we will explore the fundamentals of synthetic biology.