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Synthetic Biology: A Lab Manual is the first manual for laboratory work in the new and rapidly expanding field of synthetic biology. Aimed at non-specialists, it details protocols central to synthetic biology in both education and research. In addition, it provides all the information that high school and tertiary institution teachers and students need for a colourful lab course in bacterial synthetic biology based on chromoproteins and designer antisense RNAs. As a bonus, practical information is provided for students of the annual international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competiti

Synthetic biology --- Biology --- Engineering --- Bioengineering --- Biotechnology

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Exponentially increasing information on biological organisms coupled with increasing computational power in the past decade have broadened the perspective of fundamental biological research, bringing about considerable promise and unprecedented potential for practical applications in biotechnology. As one emergent discipline, synthetic biology aims to design and engineer novel biologically-based parts, devices, and systems, in addition to redesigning existing, natural biological systems. Although previously relegated to demonstration studies, more recent research in synthetic biology has focused on the rational engineering of industrial microorganisms with the potential to address many of society’s critical challenges. Within the realm of industrial microbiology, progress in the field of synthetic biology has enabled the development of, for example, new biosynthetic pathways for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals, programmable logic controls to regulate and optimize cell function, and robust microbes for the destruction of harmful environmental contaminants. Some of the exciting examples included producing anti-malarial drug, anti- cancer taxol precursor and various biofuel molecules in E. coli and yeast. In addition, these researches have also greatly enhanced our understanding of the cellular machinery and its regulation in some of the industry important microbes, laying an important foundation for further design and engineering of biological function for even greater application. For these reasons, we present here a collection of articles from the leading edge of the field of synthetic biology, with a specific focus on the development in industrial microorganisms. It is the intent of this collection to reach a wide audience whose interests and expertise spans from development of novel synthetic biology methodologies and theories (both experimental and computational) to practical applications seeking to address issues facing the world today.

Industrial Microbiology --- Biotechnology --- Synthetic Biology --- microbial systems --- chemicals

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Synthetic biology is at such an early stage of development that there is no uniform agreement as yet about what it actually is. To some, it represents a natural extension of genetic engineering, and therefore is “business as usual”. For others, it is a way to bring mass manufacturing out from the decades of biotechnology research. Currently the discipline is limited by the ability to synthesise DNA cost-effectively but this is a technical barrier that it is anticipated will be overcome. Synthetic biology raises a number of policy issues around R&D funding, company investment, PPP arrangements and innovative financing, infrastructure requirements, education and training, intellectual property (IP), regulation, and public engagement. In preparation for the continuing development and greater use of synthetic biology, some countries have started to prepare synthetic biology technical roadmaps and a global roadmap for the medium term would be an extremely useful policy tool. Technical roadmaps could both identify likely future policy requirements, and be a useful vehicle in public engagement.

Biological systems. --- Genes, Synthetic. --- Genetic Engineering -- methods. --- Genetic engineering. --- Models, Genetic. --- Mechanical Engineering --- Engineering & Applied Sciences --- Bioengineering --- Synthetic biology. --- Bioengineering. --- Biological engineering --- Life science engineering --- Biology --- Engineering --- Synthetic biology --- Biotechnology

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Synthetic biology manipulates the stuff of life. For synthetic biologists, living matter is programmable material. In search of carbon-neutral fuels, sustainable manufacturing techniques, and innovative drugs, these researchers aim to redesign existing organisms and even construct completely novel biological entities. Some synthetic biologists see themselves as designers, inventing new products and applications. But if biology is viewed as a malleable, engineerable, designable medium, what is the role of design and how will its values apply?In this book, synthetic biologists, artists, designers, and social scientists investigate synthetic biology and design. After chapters that introduce the science and set the terms of the discussion, the book follows six boundary-crossing collaborations between artists and designers and synthetic biologists from around the world, helping us understand what it might mean to 'design nature.' These collaborations have resulted in biological computers that calculate form; speculative packaging that builds its own contents; algae that feeds on circuit boards; and a sampling of human cheeses. They raise intriguing questions about the scientific process, the delegation of creativity, our relationship to designed matter, and, the importance of critical engagement. Should these projects be considered art, design, synthetic biology, or something else altogether?Synthetic biology is driven by its potential; some of these projects are fictions, beyond the current capabilities of the technology. Yet even as fictions, they help illuminate, question, and even shape the future of the field.

Art and biology. --- Synthetic biology. --- Biology and art --- Biology --- Engineering --- Bioengineering --- Synthetic Biology --- Esthetics. --- Art. --- Biotechnology --- Arts --- Aesthetics --- trends. --- 7.01 --- 745.01 --- biodesign --- bioengineering --- biologie --- biotechnologie --- design --- design en ecologie --- ecodesign --- ecologie --- esthetica --- kunst --- kunst en biologie --- kunst en ecologie --- kunst en technologie --- kunst en wetenschap --- kunsttheorie --- productdesign --- synthetische biologie --- wetenschap --- Art and biology --- Synthetic biology --- Esthetics --- Art --- trends

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New biotechnologies have propelled the question of what it means to be human – or posthuman – to the forefront of societal and scientific consideration. This volume provides an accessible, critical overview of the main approaches in the debate on posthumanism, and argues that they do not adequately address the question of what it means to be human in an age of biotechnology. Not because they belong to rival political camps, but because they are grounded in a humanist ontology that presupposes a radical separation between human subjects and technological objects. The volume offers a comprehensive mapping of posthumanist discourse divided into four broad approaches—two humanist-based approaches: dystopic and liberal posthumanism, and two non-humanist approaches: radical and methodological posthumanism. The author compares and contrasts these models via an exploration of key issues, from human enhancement, to eugenics, to new configurations of biopower, questioning what role technology plays in defining the boundaries of the human, the subject and nature for each.  Building on the contributions and limitations of radical and methodological posthumanism, the author develops a novel perspective, mediated posthumanism, that brings together insights in the philosophy of technology, the sociology of biomedicine, and Michel Foucault’s work on ethical subject constitution. In this framework, technology is neither a neutral tool nor a force that alienates humanity from itself, but something that is always already part of the experience of being human, and subjectivity is viewed as an emergent property that is constantly being shaped and transformed by its engagements with biotechnologies. Mediated posthumanism becomes a tool for identifying novel ethical modes of human experience that are richer and more multifaceted than current posthumanist perspectives allow for. The book will be essential reading for students and scholars working on ethics and technology, philosophy of technology, poststructuralism, technology and the body, and medical ethics.

Bioengineering --- Biotechnology --- Social aspects. --- Biological engineering --- Life science engineering --- Philosophy. --- Philosophy and science. --- Anthropology. --- Philosophy of Technology. --- Philosophy of Science. --- Biology --- Engineering --- Synthetic biology --- Science --- Human beings --- Normal science --- Philosophy of science --- Mental philosophy --- Humanities --- Science and philosophy --- Primitive societies --- Social sciences --- Technology --- Technology and civilization