Funding For Synthetic Biology

As this release shows, the field of synthetic biology has found its feet; the level of recognition, support, collaboration and ongoing work has risen to the level at which centers are being founded. "Funded by a five-year, $16 million dollar grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center, or SynBERC, is gathering pioneers in the field of synthetic biology from around the United States ... Synthetic biology is the design and construction of new biological entities such as enzymes, genetic circuits and cells, or the redesign of existing biological systems. The field builds upon advances in molecular, cell and systems biology and seeks to transform biology in the same way that synthesis transformed chemistry and that integrated circuit design transformed computing." To me, the significance of this field lies in the new capabilities that could be directed to repair age-related cellular damage in our existing biology. Protofection - replacement of age-damaged mitochondria - is an early example of this sort of capability. We'll be seeing much more in the years ahead.

Link: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/08/03_SynBerc.shtml

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