Many potential applications of synthetic and systems biology are relevant to the challenges associated with the detection, surveillance, and responses to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. On March 14 and 15, 2011, the Institute of Medicine's (IOM's) Forum on Microbial Threats convened a public workshop in Washington, DC, to explore the current state of the science of synthetic biology, including its dependency on systems biology; discussed the different approaches that scientists are taking to engineer, or reengineer, biological systems; and discussed how the tools and approaches of synthetic and systems biology were being applied to mitigate the risks associated with emerging infectious diseases. The Science and Applications of Synthetic and Systems Biology is organized into sections as a topic-by-topic distillation of the presentations and discussions that took place at the workshop. Its purpose is to present information from relevant experience, to delineate a range of pivotal issues and their respective challenges, and to offer differing perspectives on the topic as discussed and described by the workshop participants. This report also includes a collection of individually authored papers and commentary.

Scientific advances over the past several decades have accelerated the ability to engineer existing organisms and to potentially create novel ones not found in nature. Synthetic biology, which collectively refers to concepts, approaches, and tools that enable the modification or creation of biological organisms, is being pursued overwhelmingly for beneficial purposes ranging from reducing the burden of disease to improving agricultural yields to remediating pollution. Although the contributions synthetic biology can make in these and other areas hold great promise, it is also possible to imagine malicious uses that could threaten U.S. citizens and military personnel. Making informed decisions about how to address such concerns requires a realistic assessment of the capabilities that could be misused. Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology explores and envisions potential misuses of synthetic biology. This report develops a framework to guide an assessment of the security concerns related to advances in synthetic biology, assesses the levels of concern warranted for such advances, and identifies options that could help mitigate those concerns.

Organic synthesis is essential to creating new materials. While synthetic design has reached a high level of sophistication, many details remain unplannable. To become proficient in organic synthesis, one must study case histories in the same way as a lawyer does. Attention must be paid to overcoming stumbling blocks as one prepares himself to meet future challenges of similar kinds. This book discusses many important syntheses, with emphasis on the need for detours and ways leading back to the main pathways. It thus focuses on one of the most important aspects of organic synthesis, which virtually none of the synoptic literature addresses.

This volume outlines key steps associated with the design, building, and testing of synthetic metabolic pathways for optimal cell factory performance and robustness, and illustrates how data-driven learning from these steps can be used for rational cost-effective engineering of cell factories with improved performance. Chapters are divided into four sections focusing on the four steps of the iterative design-build-test-learn cycle related to modern cell factory engineering. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Synthetic Metabolic Pathways: Methods and Protocols aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

This is an insiders account of 50 years of genetic studies of the soil-inhabiting microbes that produce most of the antibiotics used to treat infections, as well as anti-cancer, anti-parasitic and immunosuppressant drugs. The book begins by describing how these microbes the actinomycetes were discovered in the latter part of the nineteenth century, but remained a Cinderella group until, in the 1940s, they shot to prominence with the discovery of streptomycin, the first effective treatment for tuberculosis and only the second antibiotic, after penicillin, to become a medical marvel. There followed a massive effort over several decades to find further treatments for infectious diseases and cancer, tempered by the rise of antibiotic resistance consequent on antibiotic misuse and over-use. The book goes on to describe the discovery of gene exchange in the actinomycetes in the context of the rise of microbial genetics in the mid-20th century, leading to determination of the complete DNA sequence of a model member of the group at the turn of the millennium. There follow chapters in which the intricate molecular machinery that adapts the organisms metabolism and development to life in the soil, including antibiotic production, is illuminated by the DNA blueprint. Then come an up-to-the minute account of the use of genetic engineering to make novel, hybrid, antibiotics, and a topical description of techniques to learn the roles of the thousands of genes in a genome sequence, throwing a powerful light on the biology of the organisms and their harnessing for increasing antibiotic productivity. In the final chapter we return to the mycobacteria that cause tuberculosis and leprosy, the first actinomycetes to be discovered, and how methodology, in part derived from the study of the streptomycetes, is being applied to understand and control these still deadly pathogens.

This book illustrates experimental and computational methodologies used to achieve cost effective biological processes for the production of fuels and biochemicals through multiple approaches to increasing yield, titers, and productivity in a robust host. The volume includes the most recent and cutting-edge aspects of pathway engineering, flux analysis, and metabolic enzyme engineering. Each chapter highlights the complexity and challenges of the problem as well as the methods used to solve this problem or changes needed in current methods. As a part of the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include the kind of detailed implementation advice that gives researchers a much needed boost. Authoritative and practical, Metabolic Pathway Engineering benefits not only scientists working on more fundamental aspects of this endeavor but also those in the biochemical industry working on strain engineering for robust industrial processes.

This detailed volume includes protocols that represent the breadth of microbial metabolomics approaches to both large-scale and small-scale experiments with intention of highlighting techniques that can be used for applications ranging from environmental microbiology to human disease. Utilizing mass spectrometry as their primary measurement tool, the chapters explore microbial metabolomics, metabolism and microbial physiology, metabolite sample preparation, current analytical techniques used to profile primary and secondary metabolites and lipids, as well as establishing data analysis workflows for targeted metabolomics, untargeted metabolomics, analysis of metabolic fluxes, and genome-scale models. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introduction to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step readily reproducible protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Microbial Metabolomics: Methods and Protocols serves as an ideal reference for both novice and advanced users and can be adapted to similar analytical platforms or customized to suit the needs of the researcher.