Ioannis Economidis /Christina Naneva (European Commission) Sohi Rastegar (National Science Foundation)

Transcription

1 Ioannis Economidis /Christina Naneva (European Commission) Sohi Rastegar (National Science Foundation)

2 Report 1. What is Synthetic Biology v 2. Towards standards in Synthetic Biology.. A Task Force Workshop, Segovia, ES (June 2010) 3. What is a Task Force Working Group on Synthetic Biology (Terms of reference/strategy plan) 4. Future activities 5. Actions in the granting systems taking into account the existence of the WG on Synthetic Biology

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4 Synthetic Biology the design and fabrication of biological components and systems that do not already exist in the natural world and/or the re-design and refactoring of existing biological systems.

5 The basic notion behind SB Any biological system can be considered as a complex combination of functional, stand-alone elements (not unlike those found in man-made devices) It can be-deconstructed in a limited number of components and reconstructed in an entirely different configuration for the sake of modifying existing properties or creating altogether new ones. SB has an aspect of developing general-use technological and conceptual tools (biological parts, minimal genomes, artificial cells, DNA synthesis),

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7 Addressing hitherto intractable problems Biosynthesis of complex molecules, breakdown or recycling of toxic chemicals, biological detection of explosives, biological production of H2 and other fuels raising utterly novel challenges DNA computing, design of biological pattern development targeting bacteria to tumor cells expanding the genetic code to non-natural amino acids

8 The central aspect of synthetic biology, is bound to have an immense impact in Biotechnology, The possibility of re-programming or creating new live organisms through the logical combination of standardized biological components that are otherwise decoupled from their natural context. Challenges: the reliable formatting of biological functionalities and the detailed description of the most basic biological constituents and their interfaces, similar to modern electronic circuits.

9 Facing the challenges The use of Systems Biology to understand the design and operation rules. The exploitation of such rules for re-engineer biological systems á la carte. The challenge is thus to set reliable Standard Operating Procedures, principles and actual units of measurement that are useful for biological engineering, even if we may still miss some fundamental facts.

10 Five hard truths for Synthetic biology Many of the parts are undefined The circuitry is unpredictable The complexity is unwieldy Many parts are incompatible Variability crashes the system Nature 463, (2010)

11 Report 1. What is Synthetic Biology v 2. Towards standards in Synthetic Biology.. A Task Force Workshop, Segovia, ES (June 2010) v 3. What is a Task Force Working Group on Synthetic Biology (Terms of reference/strategy plan) 4. Future activities 5. Actions in the granting systems taking into account the existence of the WG on Synthetic Biology

12 Towards Standards in Synthetic Biology An Exploratory Workshop of the US-EC Task Force in Biotechnology Parador de Segovia (Segovia, Spain). June 4-6, 2010

13 Standards and Standardisation [a] the adoption of specific geometric shapes and size formats for the physical assembly of the components of a man-made system (e.g. the sizes and shapes of screw turns), [b] the definition of units of measurement of relevant properties and parameters as well as conditions and procedures to calculate them (e.g. Amperes for current, Ohms for resistance, etc), [c] implementation of unambiguous protocols for the manufacture of the engineered objects.

14 Standards and Standardisation in SB the establishment of rules for the physical composition of biologial (expression) devices. the adoption of RNA polymerase per second (PoPs) units as a universal reference to express promoter strength The calculation of a translation efficacy index deduced from measuring the input/output function of the devices under the various growth and metabolic conditions.

15 The specific goals of the Workshop Review and discuss the latest technical standards having to do with vector architecture and physical assembly of genetic material, in vivo measures of biological functions and parametrization methods/algorithms, descriptive languages, graphical representations and formalisms for modelling genetic elements, and data exchange supporting registries of standard biological parts. Present and discuss the emerging standardisation requirements needed to develop one or more cellular operating systems supporting genome-scale engineering. Identify and prioritise scientific research areas that would critically accelerate standards-driven biological engineering at the genome scale. Identify new research programs or resources needed to support the preceeding goals

16 Deliverables - Platforms a list of top standardisation needs not met or realised yet via current practice; a set of fresh scientific research areas that might be strategically coupled to support current engineering goals in Synthetic Biology; a working list of now unmet programmatic or facility needs necessary to see such work carried out in a timely fashion. an US-EU Group on Biological Standards which will act as both as an observatory of bottom-up initiatives and as a think tank on research topics with a prenormative value.

17 Report 1. What is Synthetic Biology 2. Towards standards in Synthetic Biology.. A Task Force Workshop, Segovia, ES (June 2010) 3. What is a Task Force Working Group on Synthetic Biology (Terms of reference/strategy plan) v 4. Future activities 5. Actions in the granting systems taking into account the existence of the WG on Synthetic Biology

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19 WORKING GROUPS & ACTIVITIES ENVIRONMENTAL BIOTECHNOLOGY PLANT BIOLOGY BIO-BASED PRODUCTS AND BIO-BASED ENERGY BIO- INFORMATICS ETHICS SOCIETAL NANO- BIOTECHNOLOG Y ANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY MARINE GENOMICS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

20 Mission The exchange of views and collaboration across the Atlantic on Synthetic Biology.

21 Focus on Scientific and Technical progress in implementing Synthetic Biology principles (standards, orthogonality, minimal genomes, etc.) Outstanding issues of Ethics, Biosafety (including environmental safety) and Biosecurity. Educational approaches.

22 Structure Secretarial EU/EC: Christina Naneva; Ioannis Economidis US/NSF: Sohi Rastegar Members EU US V. De Lorenzo (ES) Drew Endy X X Y Y Z Z

23 Report 1. What is Synthetic Biology 2. Towards standards in Synthetic Biology.. A Task Force Workshop, Segovia, ES (June 2010) 3. What is a Task Force Working Group on Synthetic Biology (Terms of reference/strategy plan) 4. Future activities v 5. Actions in the granting systems taking into account the existence of the WG on Synthetic Biology

24 Planned activities All five years Telephone/video conferences/webinars Meetings in conjunction to international relevant scientific event. Workshops (Possible ideas) - "Orthogonality and orthogonal systems in Biology", Cell operative systems and Deep metabolic engineering Workshop on Ethical, Legal, and Social issues in relationship (or in juxtaposition) to the scientific and technical progress of Synthetic Biology. Workshop on relevant contribution of Synthetic Biology to different domains of Biotechnology

25 Questions to be answered by these workshops and follow up discussions Define accurately the nature and boundaries of biological functions Formalization and nonambiguous representation of biological information is a major bottleneck for the development of SB Development of consensus criteria for Biological Standards What is a biological part? Its it possible to convert a natural, context-dependent module into an autonomous component?

26 Planned activities Training Activities Short term courses with theoretical and practical (laboratory) sessions focused on basic techniques and principles of synthetic biology. Exploration of funding possibilities for short term exchanges of US young scholars to EU research institutions with reciprocity of short term exchanges of EU young scholars to US research establishments.

27 Ethics and beyond Safety Biosecurity, prevention of bioterrorism and dual use Governance Patenting and common heritage Trade and global justice Science and society dialogue Research

28 Public beneficence Public Funding Review and Disclosure Support for Promising Research Innovation Through Sharing Responsible stewardship Coordinated Approach to Synthetic Biology Risk Assessment Review and Field Release Gap Analysis Monitoring, Containment, and Control Risk Assessment Prior to Field Release International Coordination and Dialogue Ethics Education Ongoing Evaluation of Objections Intellectual freedom and responsibility Fostering Responsibility and Accountability Periodic Assessment of Security and Safety Risks Oversight Controls Democratic deliberation Scientific, Religious, and Civic Engagement Information Accuracy Public Education Justice and fairness. Risks in Research Risks and Benefits in Commercial Production and Distribution

29 Report 1. What is Synthetic Biology 2. Towards standards in Synthetic Biology.. A Task Force Workshop, Segovia, ES (June 2010) 3. What is a Task Force Working Group on Synthetic Biology (Terms of reference/strategy plan) 4. Future activities 5. Actions in the granting systems taking into account the existence of the WG on Synthetic Biology v

30 Synthetic Biology in KBBE 2011 Towards standardisation in Synthetic Biology Applying Synthetic Biology principles towards the cell factory notion in biotechnology Ensuring the safety of Synthetic Biology applications Synthetic Biology ERA-NET

31 Towards standardisation in Synthetic Biology Standardization and orthogonalization of the gene expression flow for robust engineering of NTN (new-tonature) biological properties (ST-FLOW) The ST-FLOW Project merges the efforts of 15 leading European and US research groups for developing material and computational standards that enable the forward-design of prokaryotic systems with a degree of robustness and predictability that is not possible with customary Genetic Engineering.