Update on designing and building minimal cells

Michael C. Jewett; Anthony C. Forster

doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2010.06.008

Update on designing and building minimal cells

Michael C. Jewett^*, Anthony C. Forster

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemical and Biological Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

110 Scopus citations

Abstract

Minimal cells comprise only the genes and biomolecular machinery necessary for basic life. Synthesizing minimal and minimized cells will improve understanding of core biology, enhance development of biotechnology strains of bacteria, and enable evolutionary optimization of natural and unnatural biopolymers. Design and construction of minimal cells is proceeding in two different directions: 'top-down' reduction of bacterial genomes in vivo and 'bottom-up' integration of DNA/RNA/protein/membrane syntheses in vitro. Major progress in the past 5 years has occurred in synthetic genomics, minimization of the Escherichia coli genome, sequencing of minimal bacterial endosymbionts, identification of essential genes, and integration of biochemical systems.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	697-703
Number of pages	7
Journal	Current Opinion in Biotechnology
Volume	21
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2010.06.008
State	Published - Oct 2010

Funding

We are grateful to George Church for advice and comments on the manuscript and John Glass, John McCutcheon, and Michael Sismour for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (to MCJ and ACF), the National Science Foundation (to MCJ), and the American Cancer Society (to ACF).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Bioengineering
Biotechnology
Biomedical Engineering

Access to Document

10.1016/j.copbio.2010.06.008

Cite this

@article{8a989d6783164a909b192bb9ab785cc8,

title = "Update on designing and building minimal cells",

abstract = "Minimal cells comprise only the genes and biomolecular machinery necessary for basic life. Synthesizing minimal and minimized cells will improve understanding of core biology, enhance development of biotechnology strains of bacteria, and enable evolutionary optimization of natural and unnatural biopolymers. Design and construction of minimal cells is proceeding in two different directions: 'top-down' reduction of bacterial genomes in vivo and 'bottom-up' integration of DNA/RNA/protein/membrane syntheses in vitro. Major progress in the past 5 years has occurred in synthetic genomics, minimization of the Escherichia coli genome, sequencing of minimal bacterial endosymbionts, identification of essential genes, and integration of biochemical systems.",

author = "Jewett, {Michael C.} and Forster, {Anthony C.}",

note = "Funding Information: We are grateful to George Church for advice and comments on the manuscript and John Glass, John McCutcheon, and Michael Sismour for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (to MCJ and ACF), the National Science Foundation (to MCJ), and the American Cancer Society (to ACF). ",

year = "2010",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.copbio.2010.06.008",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "21",

pages = "697--703",

journal = "Current Opinion in Biotechnology",

issn = "0958-1669",

publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Update on designing and building minimal cells

AU - Jewett, Michael C.

AU - Forster, Anthony C.

N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful to George Church for advice and comments on the manuscript and John Glass, John McCutcheon, and Michael Sismour for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (to MCJ and ACF), the National Science Foundation (to MCJ), and the American Cancer Society (to ACF).

PY - 2010/10

Y1 - 2010/10

N2 - Minimal cells comprise only the genes and biomolecular machinery necessary for basic life. Synthesizing minimal and minimized cells will improve understanding of core biology, enhance development of biotechnology strains of bacteria, and enable evolutionary optimization of natural and unnatural biopolymers. Design and construction of minimal cells is proceeding in two different directions: 'top-down' reduction of bacterial genomes in vivo and 'bottom-up' integration of DNA/RNA/protein/membrane syntheses in vitro. Major progress in the past 5 years has occurred in synthetic genomics, minimization of the Escherichia coli genome, sequencing of minimal bacterial endosymbionts, identification of essential genes, and integration of biochemical systems.

AB - Minimal cells comprise only the genes and biomolecular machinery necessary for basic life. Synthesizing minimal and minimized cells will improve understanding of core biology, enhance development of biotechnology strains of bacteria, and enable evolutionary optimization of natural and unnatural biopolymers. Design and construction of minimal cells is proceeding in two different directions: 'top-down' reduction of bacterial genomes in vivo and 'bottom-up' integration of DNA/RNA/protein/membrane syntheses in vitro. Major progress in the past 5 years has occurred in synthetic genomics, minimization of the Escherichia coli genome, sequencing of minimal bacterial endosymbionts, identification of essential genes, and integration of biochemical systems.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77957345108&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77957345108&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.copbio.2010.06.008

DO - 10.1016/j.copbio.2010.06.008

M3 - Review article

C2 - 20638265

AN - SCOPUS:77957345108

SN - 0958-1669

VL - 21

SP - 697

EP - 703

JO - Current Opinion in Biotechnology

JF - Current Opinion in Biotechnology

IS - 5

ER -

Update on designing and building minimal cells

Abstract

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this