Synthetic biology in the UK – An outline of plans and progress

Synthetic biology is capable of delivering new solutions to key challenges spanning the bioeconomy, both nationally and internationally. Recognising this significant potential and the associated need to facilitate its translation and commercialisation the UK government commissioned the production of a national Synthetic Biology Roadmap in 2011, and subsequently provided crucial support to assist its implementation. Critical infrastructural investments have been made, and important strides made towards the development of an effectively connected community of practitioners and interest groups. A number of Synthetic Biology Research Centres, DNA Synthesis Foundries, a Centre for Doctoral Training, and an Innovation Knowledge Centre have been established, creating a nationally distributed and integrated network of complementary facilities and expertise. The UK Synthetic Biology Leadership Council published a UK Synthetic Biology Strategic Plan in 2016, increasing focus on the processes of translation and commercialisation. Over 50 start-ups, SMEs and larger companies are actively engaged in synthetic biology in the UK, and inward investments are starting to flow. Together these initiatives provide an important foundation for stimulating innovation, actively contributing to international research and development partnerships, and helping deliver useful benefits from synthetic biology in response to local and global needs and challenges.

[1]  K. Schwab.  The Fourth Industrial Revolution , 2013 .

[2]  Robert Carlson.  Estimating the biotech sector's contribution to the US economy , 2016, Nature Biotechnology.

[3]  Karen M Polizzi.  What is synthetic biology? , 2013, Methods in molecular biology.

[4]  Division on Earth,et al.  Positioning Synthetic Biology to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century , 2013 .

[5]  Christopher Dye,et al.  Zika: the origin and spread of a mosquito-borne virus , 2016, Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

[6]  W. Deming.  The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education - 2nd Edition , 2000 .

[7]  P. Oldham,et al.  Synthetic Biology: Mapping the Scientific Landscape , 2012, PloS one.

[8]  Heidi Ledford,et al.  CRISPR, the disruptor , 2015, Nature.

[9]  A. J. Meadows,et al.  A revolution in life sciences , 1992 .

[10]  Division on Earth.  COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRIALIZATION OF BIOLOGY: A ROADMAP TO ACCELERATE THE ADVANCED MANUFACTURING OF CHEMICALS , 2015 .

[11]  M. Batzer,et al.  An overview of the human genome project , 1994 .

[12]  P. B. Petersen.  The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education , 1993 .

[13]  Ruben Vrijhoef.  Centre for process innovation , 2004 .

[14]  James J Collins,et al.  Programmable bacteria detect and record an environmental signal in the mammalian gut , 2014, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[15]  Richard I. Kitney,et al.  Layering genetic circuits to build a single cell, bacterial half adder , 2015, BMC Biology.

[16]  J. Doudna,et al.  A Programmable Dual-RNA–Guided DNA Endonuclease in Adaptive Bacterial Immunity , 2012, Science.

[17]  Douglas C. Friedman.  Industrialization of Biology. A Roadmap to Accelerate the Advanced Manufacturing of Chemicals , 2015 .

[18]  J. Manyika,et al.  Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy , 2013 .

[19]  Ewan Birney,et al.  Towards practical, high-capacity, low-maintenance information storage in synthesized DNA , 2013, Nature.

[20]  Le Feuvre RA,et al.  SYNBIOCHEM Synthetic Biology Research Centre, Manchester – A UK foundry for fine and speciality chemicals production , 2016, Synthetic and systems biotechnology.