Synthetic Biology: Amplifying Throughput in Discovery at Marginal Cost

The relatively new bio-buzzwords synthetic biology and synthetic genomics refer to processes for designing and building biological parts, devices, and integrated biological systems as well as the technologies that enable such work—in other words, duplicating the production and function of genes, proteins, and cells. To some, those goals conjure up unwanted visions of artificial life, the unwise crossing of the threshold of creation, and an inevitable "dual use" of such technology to engineer devastating biothreats. Others, however, see the endeavors as the consequential development of a better parts list for molecular biology and protein engineering.

"To talk about a synthetic genome today is to talk about a reasonably distant goal that can excite and mobilize people and capture the imagination," suggests Flagship Ventures' Noubar Afeyan,...