Learning from nature - novel synthetic biology approaches for biomaterial design.
Many biomaterials constructed today are complex chemical structures that incorporate biologically active components derived from nature, but the field can still be said to be in its infancy. The need for materials that bring sophisticated properties of structure, dynamics and function to medical and non-medical applications will only grow. Increasing appreciation of the functionality of biological systems has caused biomaterials researchers to consider nature for design inspiration, and many examples exist of the use of biomolecular motifs. Yet evolution, nature's only engine for the creation of new designs, has been largely ignored by the biomaterials community. Molecular evolution is an emerging tool that enables one to apply nature's engineering principles to non-natural situations using variation and selection. The purpose of this review is to highlight the most recent advances in the use of molecular evolution in synthetic biology applications for biomaterial engineering, and to discuss some of the areas in which this approach may be successfully applied in the future.
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332-0535, USA.
Anton V
AV
Bryksin
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332-0535, USA; School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA; School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Ashley C
AC
Brown
School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA; School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Michael M
MM
Baksh
School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA; School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
M G
MG
Finn
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 313 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332-0535, USA. Electronic address: thomas.barker@bme.gatech.edu.
Thomas H
TH
Barker
D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D058615:Synthetic Biology / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry; D014771:Virion / Q000737:chemistry
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011108:Polymers
Biomaterials; Directed evolution; Synthetic biology; Tissue engineering; Virus particles