Your smartphone and laptop are made of electronic circuits. Genetic circuits, modelled on the electronic ones, are human-designed combinations of genetic components that interact to produce one or more proteins or RNA molecules, for example, in response to a given stimulus, such as a toxin. Under the right conditions, the circuit might be triggered to make “protein A, which then interacts with protein B to give outcome C”, says David Riglar, a synthetic biologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. But until a decade or so ago, these two kinds of circuits were made in very different ways.

Enjoying our latest content?
Log in or create an account to continue

  • Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team
  • Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research
Access through your institution

or

Sign in or create an account
Continue with Google
Continue with ORCiD