(693g) Metabolic Engineering and/or Synthetic Biology for Improved Biotechnological Production: Promises and Realities

Metabolic engineering (ME) emerged as an autonomous research activity in the mid to late 1980s, at the point where genetic manipulation of cellular pathways became possible. Both experimental and computational tools were developed over the next 20 years to the point that one could confidently undertake the development of an engineered organism to produce a novel chemical or improve the production of a native metabolite. Industrial processes slowly emerged, and the field achieved increased recognition and respect. ME should not be confused with the development of genetically modified animal cells to express a transgene for producing therapeutic or diagnostic proteins, an activity that developed in parallel with ME, but led to the enormous, in impact and value, biopharmaceuticals industry. Some 15-20 years later, in the early 2000s, Synthetic Biology (SB) emerged as another enterprise based on the ability to synthesize large pieces of DNA and modify (the new word now was “edit”) DNA. In the beginning, there was a marked confusion: was SB different from ME, and if so, how and why? As the field moved forward, a combination of “political” and scientific advances gave SB a distinct character, but yet with large overlap with ME. SB became more sophisticated on engineering complex traits based on engineered regulatory components and focusing largely in non-pathway dependent traits, but also on generating precise DNA editing tools. I will discuss what is the present reality in terms of practical applications.