Building a community to engineer synthetic cells and organelles from the bottom-up

Elife. 2021 Dec 20:10:e73556. doi: 10.7554/eLife.73556.

Abstract

Employing concepts from physics, chemistry and bioengineering, 'learning-by-building' approaches are becoming increasingly popular in the life sciences, especially with researchers who are attempting to engineer cellular life from scratch. The SynCell2020/21 conference brought together researchers from different disciplines to highlight progress in this field, including areas where synthetic cells are having socioeconomic and technological impact. Conference participants also identified the challenges involved in designing, manipulating and creating synthetic cells with hierarchical organization and function. A key conclusion is the need to build an international and interdisciplinary research community through enhanced communication, resource-sharing, and educational initiatives.

Keywords: SynCell; community building; molecular biophysics; none; structural biology; synthetic biology.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Artificial Cells*
  • Bioengineering / methods*
  • Bioengineering / statistics & numerical data*
  • Bioengineering / trends*
  • Forecasting
  • Humans
  • Intersectoral Collaboration*
  • Organelles / physiology*
  • Synthetic Biology / trends*

Grants and funding

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.