ERASynBio

Basic Information

Description

Synthetic biology is an emerging and promising research area with the potential to have a strong impact on innovation and technological progress that is beneficial for the economy and for society as a whole. It is an area at the intersection of engineering, bioscience, chemistry, and information technology. The central idea of ERASynBio is to promote the robust development of synthetic biology by structuring and coordinating national efforts and investment.

Main research priorities of the network

Synthetic Biology is an emerging multidisciplinary research area, which borders a number of closely associated and overlapping scientific fields. Metabolic engineering: Attaining new levels of complexity in modification of biosynthetic pathways for sustainable chemistry. Minimal genomes:Identifying the smallest number of parts needed for life as a basis for engineering minimal cell factories for new functions. Regulatory circuits:Inserting well-characterised, modular, artificial networks to provide new functions in cells and organisms. Protocells:Using programmable chemical design to produce (semi-)synthetic cells. Orthogonal biosystems: Engineering cells to expand the genetic code to develop new information storage and processing capacity. Bionanoscience: Developing molecular-scale motors and other components for cell-based machines or cell-free devices to perform complex new tasks.