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Biología sintética: la ingeniería al asalto de la complejidad biológica

2014; Spanish National Research Council; Volume: 190; Issue: 768 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3989/arbor.2014.768n4003

1988-303X

Vı́ctor de Lorenzo,

Biomedical and Engineering Education

Synthetic Biology is not just a contemporary update of the recombinant DNA technologies of the past 30 years along with a descriptive language imported from electrical and industrial engineering. It is also a new key to interpreting living systems, as well as a declaration of intent about the use and reprogramming of biological objects for human benefit. In the same way that scientific chemistry initiated by Lavoisier evolved into the Chemical Engineering that is the basis of our industrial society, Biology has acquired a transforming potential that will possibly lead to a type of industry and economy very different from the current paradigm. To this end, it is essential to identify bottlenecks that limit the design of biological objects from first principles and not to miss the train of Synthetic Biology at its current foundational stage, when talent -and not muscle- is what really matters.