title: The Constructor: a web application optimizing cloning strategies based on modules from the registry of standard biological parts.
abstract: Synthetic biology is an emerging field that combines molecular biology with engineering principles, which requires abstraction levels applied to a modular biological componentry. The Registry of Standard Biological Parts harbours such a repository of standardized parts, and thereby facilitates the combination of complex molecular modules to novel genetic circuits and devices. However, since finding the best parts for a pre-determined genetic design can be time consuming, we devised the Constructor, a web tool that recommends the smallest number of cloning steps for pre-designed circuits, and implements user-defined quality checks.We present the Constructor (      http://www.systemsbiology.nl/the_constructor) as a constructive web tool that simplifies the in silico assembly of pre-designed gene circuitries from standard parts, reducing both planning and subsequent cloning time.
authors.affiliation: iGEM Wageningen UR, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Matthijn C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hesselman
authors.affiliation: iGEM Wageningen UR, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jasper J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Koehorst
authors.affiliation: iGEM Wageningen UR, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Thijs
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Slijkhuis
authors.affiliation: iGEM Wageningen UR, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dorett I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Odoni
authors.affiliation: iGEM Wageningen UR, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Floor
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hugenholtz
authors.affiliation: iGEM Wageningen UR, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Laboratory of Systems and Synthetic Biology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mark W J
authors.initials: MWJ
authors.lastname: van Passel