Synthetic Biology | List of Tables
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List of Tables
Table 1: Possibilities for DNA assembly in synthetic biology (Ellis et al. 2011) ............................................................... 24
Table 2: Genetic device projects presented at international genetically engineered machine (iGEM) competition..... 35
Table 3: Types of parts available from the BioBrick™ Registry Repository (modified from iGEM (2014)). .................... 41
Table 4: Product Matrix for biofuels (SBP 2012) “Inventory of synthetic biology products – existing and possible”
(Synthetic Biology Project – Draft, July 2012) ................................................................................................................. 49
Table 5: Classification of host (micro-) organisms by risk groups (NIH 2013) ................................................................. 58
Table 6: Relation of risk groups
to biosafety levels, practices and equipment (NIH 2013) ............................................ 59
Synthetic Biology | Annex
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Annex
11.1
Literature search - Methodology
For literature search the bibliographic database Scopus, officially named SciVerse Scopus, and the public
access database PubMed were used.
Scopus is described as the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, features smart
tools to track, analyse and visualise research and delivers a comprehensive overview of global scientific output
(online: http://www.elsevier.com/online-tools/scopus).
PubMed, a database developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI),
provides access to peer-reviewed literature of the fields of biomedicine and health, covering portions of the
life sciences, behavioural sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering, and additional relevant web sites
and links to the other NCBI molecular biology resources (online: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/).
Literature search was performed in October 2013 and terms were searched in the field “Article Title, Abstracts
and Keywords” and reviews from the years 2010 until 2013 were included. In the first step for this interim
report documents were screened in order to select definitions for synthetic genomic and synthetic biology.
Keywords for screening definitions in both databases:
“synthetic genomics”
“synthetic biology”
Search results and selection of documents
“synthetic genomics” (Scopus):
year
hits
available
full-texts
number of
definitions
2010
4
4
2
2011
0
0
0
2012
1
1
0
2013
1
1
1
Synthetic Biology | Annex
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“synthetic genomics” (PubMed):
year
hits
available full-texts
number of definitions
2010
3
3
0
2011
0
0
0
2012
2
2
2
2013
2
1
1
“synthetic biology” (Scopus):
year
hits
available full-texts
number of definitions
2010
77
63
17
2011
93
65
19
2012
180
136
36
2013
119
79
13
“synthetic biology” (PubMed):
year
hits
available full-texts
number of definitions
2010
223
126
26
2011
294
122
22
2012
134
48
46
2013
349
94
9
In summary, for the keyword “synthetic genomics” 12 documents (available full-texts) were screened for
definitions and 6 definitions are cited. For “synthetic biology” 733 articles (of 1469 hits) were screened, 188
definitions were found. The list of selected definitions may be found in the Annex.
Major elements identified in definitions published 2010-2013
The definitions listed in the Annex contain several common elements (e.g. “design of novelty”, “design novel
and redesign natural biological entities”, “to apply the principles of engineering”, “modularisation of biology”,
“bottom-up design”, “understanding by synthesis”, “understanding by manipulation” and “development of
tools for bio-design”). With reference to the relevant publications the most frequently found are:
Engineering principles/Interface of engineering and biology
• Improve the process of genetic engineering
• Most have the scope of engineering an individual
biosynthetic pathway
• Metabolic engineering as simplest form of synthetic biology
• Engineering of whole metabolisms, regulatory networks, and even ecosystems