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The Cellular Chassis as the Basis for New Functionalities: Shortcomings and Requirements

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Synthetic Biology

Part of the book series: Risk Engineering ((RISK))

Abstract

By default synthetic biology refers to construction of synthetic genetic programs. Yet, programs must be expressed within a machine, and the elusive but multipurpose “chassis” is usually taken for granted. The program replicates while the chassis reproduces, showing that maturation, ageing and senescence are core processes which must be taken into account in order to explore realistic outcomes. Functional analysis reveals the essential functions that we need to consider. Some are listed in the present chapter, with emphasis on the role of information recruitment. This is a built-in process of living organisms whose outcome is the production of an ever young progeny as a way to cope with ageing and senescence. Life innovates using Maxwell’s demons-like nanomachines. This is at odds with standard engineering practices, opening up new perspectives for synthetic biology.

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Acknowledgments

This work, which summarises a lecture held at the University of Bremen, on October 24th, 2012, benefited from ongoing discussions of the Stanislas Noria Network. It has been supported by the FP7 European Union programme Microme KBBE–2007–3-2-08-222886-2 grant.

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  1. AMAbiotics SAS, Evry, France

    Antoine Danchin

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  1. Antoine Danchin
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Correspondence to Antoine Danchin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bremen Production Engineering, Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Bernd Giese

  2. University of Bremen Production Engineering, Bremen, Germany

    Christian Pade

  3. University of Bremen Production Engineering, Bremen, Germany

    Henning Wigger

  4. University of Bremen Production Engineering, Bremen, Germany

    Arnim von Gleich

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Danchin, A. (2015). The Cellular Chassis as the Basis for New Functionalities: Shortcomings and Requirements. In: Giese, B., Pade, C., Wigger, H., von Gleich, A. (eds) Synthetic Biology. Risk Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02783-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02783-8_8

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