title: Synthetic biology: understanding biological design from synthetic circuits.
abstract: An important aim of synthetic biology is to uncover the design principles of natural biological systems through the rational design of gene and protein circuits. Here, we highlight how the process of engineering biological systems - from synthetic promoters to the control of cell-cell interactions - has contributed to our understanding of how endogenous systems are put together and function. Synthetic biological devices allow us to grasp intuitively the ranges of behaviour generated by simple biological circuits, such as linear cascades and interlocking feedback loops, as well as to exert control over natural processes, such as gene expression and population dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukherji
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Oudenaarden
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication; D005246:Feedback; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D015202:Protein Engineering; D015398:Signal Transduction