合成生物学赋能：从学科发展到产业转化

Synthetic biology enablement: From academic development to industrial transformation

        熊燕^1,2(中国科学院上海营养与健康研究所 上海生命科学信息中心 上海 200031;中国科学院大学 北京 100049)
        马雪晴^1,2(中国科学院上海营养与健康研究所 上海生命科学信息中心 上海 200031;中国科学院大学 北京 100049)
        陈大明^1,2(中国科学院上海营养与健康研究所 上海生命科学信息中心 上海 200031;中国科学院大学 北京 100049)
        刘晓¹(中国科学院上海营养与健康研究所 上海生命科学信息中心 上海 200031)
        赵国屏^3,4*(中国科学院上海营养与健康研究所 生物医学大数据中心 上海 200031;中国科学院分子植物科学卓越创新中心 上海 200032)

         合成生物学|赋能|会聚|创新生态系统

        synthetic biology|enablement|convergence|innovative ecosystem

        合成生物学通过引入工程科学“自下而上”认识生命体系的理念，在生命科学研究中采用“设计—构建—测试—学习”迭代的研究范式，并在基因组和系统生物学的基础上，构建工程化的新生命体系，为生命科学提供了“从创造到理解”的新途径，不仅颠覆了从整体到局部的“格物致知—还原论”的传统研究策略，还开启了理解生命本质的“建物致知”新文化。同时，合成生物学将生物技术由“模拟自然过程”和“遗传工程改造”上升至“定量理性设计”和“标准化构建测试”的高度，推动生物工程和代谢工程朝着对标生命过程的高效率、普适性的工程化“重编程”，甚至是“从头构建”的新高度，以实现“建物致用”的目标。文章梳理了合成生物学近年来在生命科学基础研究中“建物致知”方面的重要进展，列举了其在化工、医药、食品、环境等应用领域中“建物致用”的具体案例，展现了合成生物学对人类社会全面发展正在发挥的重大影响，强调了为确保合成生物学的健康、快速发展，构建会聚生态系统与治理体系的重要性。

        Synthetic biology revolutionizes the comprehension of life systems from an engineering perspective, employing a “bottomup” approach in life science research. It adopts an iterative research paradigm of “design-build-test-learn” in life science research and creates engineered new life systems grounded in genomics and systems biology. This provides a new pathway of “from creation to understanding” for life sciences, departing from the traditional reductionist research strategy of “study the whole to understand the parts” and opening up a new culture of “building to understand” the essence of life. Additionally, synthetic biology elevates existing biotechnologies previously based on “simulating natural processes” and “genetic engineering modifications” to a level of “quantitative rational design” and “standardized construction testing”, pushing bioengineering and metabolic engineering towards efficient, universal engineering “reprogramming” and even “de novo construction”, thereby achieving the goal of “building to use”. This study reviews the significant progress of synthetic biology in the aspect of “building to understand” in basic life science research in recent years, providing specific cases of its “building to use” in fields such as chemical engineering, medicine, food, and the environment, showcasing the profound impact synthetic biology is exerting on the comprehensive development of human society. Moreover, it underscores the importance of constructing a convergent ecosystem and governance framework to foster the robust and expeditious development of synthetic biology.