Sensing the future of bio-informational engineering

Nat Commun. 2021 Jan 15;12(1):388. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20764-2.

Abstract

The practices of synthetic biology are being integrated into 'multiscale' designs enabling two-way communication across organic and inorganic information substrates in biological, digital and cyber-physical system integrations. Novel applications of 'bio-informational' engineering will arise in environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, precision medicine and next-generation biomanufacturing. Potential developments include sentinel plants for environmental monitoring and autonomous bioreactors that respond to biosensor signaling. As bio-informational understanding progresses, both natural and engineered biological systems will need to be reimagined as cyber-physical architectures. We propose that a multiple length scale taxonomy will assist in rationalizing and enabling this transformative development in engineering biology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bioengineering / methods
  • Bioengineering / trends*
  • Forecasting*
  • Synthetic Biology / methods
  • Synthetic Biology / trends*