Toward engineering synthetic microbial metabolism

Abstract

The generation of well-characterized parts and the formulation of biological design principles in synthetic biology are laying the foundation formore complex and advancedmicrobial metabolic engineering. Improvements in de novoDNA synthesis and codonoptimization alone are already contributing to the manufacturing of pathway enzymes with improved or novel function. Further development of analytical and computer-aided design tools should accelerate the forward engineering of precisely regulated synthetic pathways by providing a standard framework for the predictable design of biological systems from well-characterized parts. In this review we discuss the current state of synthetic biology within a four-stage framework (design, modeling, synthesis, analysis) and highlight areas requiring further advancement to facilitate true engineering of synthetic microbial metabolism. Copyright © 2010 G. H. McArthur IV and S. S. Fong.