Biology 2581B Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Limiting Factor, Chromophore, Logic Gate
22 Apr 2017
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Lecture 20: synthetic biology: parts, modules, and systems. Definition: connect various elements (regulatory, sensory etc. ) in a reliable, predictable way and program a cell to function as a system. In synthetic biology, we"re trying to avoid unpredictable mutations. Goal: to have a predictable end product. Even the smallest mutation would result in a sensible phenotypic change. We can take advantage of the fact that everything is hierarchically organized. We can apply engineering principles to the design and alteration of natural systems or de novo construction of artificial biological devices and systems that exhibit predictable behaviours. To achieve hierarchy, look at all the individual proteins, mrnas, and micrornas: all of these respond to external stimuli, sensing signals from the outside. If we can organize these parts as a module, we"ll end up with a regulatory circuit. Let"s say microrna a regulates expression of gene b, and gene b regulates expression of another gene.
