Synthetic biology articles from across Nature Portfolio

We engineered bacteria to function as therapeutic ‘living glues’ that autonomously detect gastrointestinal bleeding and, in response, secrete adhesive and therapeutic proteins to enable targeted mucosal adhesion, promote healing and reduce inflammation in mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease.

Although base editing has potential as a gene therapy tool, bystander edits limit its clinical use for many pathogenic mutations. This work uses directed evolution to optimize adenine base editors and 3′-extended guide RNAs to enhance targeting, producing more precise editors with reduced bystander effects.

Light-driven enzymatic catalysis has enabled important abiological transformations in vitro. Now a cellular ene-reductase photoenzyme is integrated with a de novo-designed olefin biosynthetic pathway for photoinduced hydroalkylation, hydroamination and hydrosulfonylation reactions within cells.

Diatoms are critical for carbon fixation and have strong biotechnology potential. Here, the authors optimized DNA and protein delivery methods for the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, also showing that DNA pieces can be stitched together directly in algal cells.

A recently developed class of magneto-sensitive fluorescent proteins are engineered to alter the properties of their response to magnetic fields and radio frequencies, enabling multimodal sensing of biological systems.

Improved de novo production of prostaglandin F2α at titer of 32.63 μg/L in flask cultures is developed via metabolic engineering of Yarrowia lipolytica from glucose, providing a sustainable platform to produce prostaglandins.

We engineered bacteria to function as therapeutic ‘living glues’ that autonomously detect gastrointestinal bleeding and, in response, secrete adhesive and therapeutic proteins to enable targeted mucosal adhesion, promote healing and reduce inflammation in mouse models of inflammatory bowel disease.

U.S. select agent regulations ignore easily assembled DNA fragments, making synthesis screening ineffective regardless of accuracy. We acquired unregulated DNA collectively sufficient for a skilled individual to generate 1918 influenza from dozens of providers, demonstrating that fragments must be regulated as select agents.

Although base editing has potential as a gene therapy tool, bystander edits limit its clinical use for many pathogenic mutations. This work uses directed evolution to optimize adenine base editors and 3′-extended guide RNAs to enhance targeting, producing more precise editors with reduced bystander effects.

The Synthetic Yeast Genome Project (Sc2.0) set out to redesign and chemically synthesize an entire eukaryotic genome. This Comment summarizes the design- and construction-related defects revealed during the construction of 16 synthetic chromosomes, and the solutions applied, drawing out the key biological and technical insights that will inform future genome-scale engineering.

Cellular agriculture is emerging as a new approach to the production of food ingredients, offering an alternative to conventional agricultural practices. This Comment highlights critical sustainability considerations and examines the energy efficiency of biotechnologically produced cellular crops.