Chemical Synthetic Biology

Chemistry plays a very important role in the emerging field of synthetic biology. In particular, chemical synthetic biology is concerned with the synthesis of chemical structures, such as proteins, that do not exist in nature. With contributions from leading international experts, Chemical Synthetic Biology shows how chemistry underpins synthetic biology. The book is an essential guide to this fascinating new field, and will find a place on the bookshelves of researchers and students working in synthetic chemistry, synthetic and molecular biology, bioengineering, systems biology, computational genomics, and bioinformatics. List of Contributors.

Introduction (Pier Luigi Luisi).

Part One: Nucleic Acids.

1 Searching for Nucleic Acid Alternatives (Albert Eschenmoser).

2 Never-Born RNAs: Versatile Modules for Chemical Synthetic Biology (Davide De Lucrezia, Fabrizio Anella, Cristiano Chiarabelli, and Pier Luigi Luisi).

3 Synthetic Biology, Tinkering Biology, and Artificial Biology: A Perspective from Chemistry (Steven A. Benner, Fei Chen, and Zunyi Yang).

4 Peptide Nucleic Acids (PNAs) as a Tool in Chemical Biology (Peter E. Nielsen).

Part Two: Peptides and Proteins.

5 High Solubility of Random-Sequence Proteins Consisting of Five Kinds of Primitive Amino Acids (Nobuhide Doi, Koichi Kakukawa, Yuko Oishi, and Hiroshi Yanagawa).

6 Experimental Approach for Early Evolution of Protein Function (Hitoshi Toyota, Yuuki Hayashi, Asao Yamauchi, Takuyo Aita, and Tetsuya Yomo).

7 Searching for de novo Totally Random Amino Acid Sequences (Cristiano Chiarabelli, Cecilia Portela Pallares, and Anna Quintarelli).

Part Three: Complex Systems.

8 Synthetic Genetic Codes as the Basis of Synthetic Life (J. Tze-Fei Wong and Hong Xue).

9 Toward Safe Genetically Modified Organisms through the Chemical Diversification of Nucleic Acids (Piet Herdewijn and Philippe Marliere).

10 The Minimal Ribosome (Hiroshi Yamamoto, Markus Pech, Daniela Wittek, Isabella Moll, and Knud H. Nierhaus).

11 Semi-Synthetic Minimal Living Cells (Pasquale Stano, Francesca Ferri, and Pier Luigi Luisi).

Part Four: General Problems.

12 Replicators: Components for Systems Chemistry (Olga Taran and Günter von Kiedrowski).

13 Dealing with the Outer Reaches of Synthetic Biology Biosafety, Biosecurity, IPR, and Ethical Challenges of Chemical Synthetic Biology (Markus Schmidt, Malcolm Dando, and Anna Deplazes).

14 The Synthetic Approach in Biology: Epistemological Notes for Synthetic Biology (Pier Luigi Luisi).

Index.

“Indeed, this book is a valuable addition to the pertinent literature and an excellent resource for students and researchers of chemical synthetic biology and related disciplines.” (Science Progress, 1 September 2012)

Professor Dr Pier Luigi Luisi is an acknowledged expert in the field of synthetic biology and supramolecular chemistry, with over 400 scientific papers to his name. He is the author of seven books, including The Emergence of Life. From Chemical Origins to Synthetic Biology (CUP, 2006). He is now based at Univ. Roma 3, Italy where his research interests are the never-born proteins, and the construction of vesicle-based bioreactors that simulate the main functions of biological cells.

Dr. Cristiano Chiarabelli, Università degli Studi di Roma Tre, Rome, Italy.

Chemistry plays an important role in the emerging field of synthetic biology, providing the technologies that enable much of the research. In particular, chemical synthetic biology is concerned with the synthesis of new biological macromolecular structures (proteins and nucleic acids) and minimal life forms (semi-synthetic minimal cells) not found in nature, and - in contrast to other aspects of synthetic biology - without the use of genetic manipulation.

With contributions from leading internationals experts in the field, Chemical Synthetic Biology shows how chemistry underpins synthetic biology. Topics covered include:

• what roles do chemical tools perform in synthetic biology?
• synthetic nucleic acids, including never born RNAs and peptide nucleic acids (PNAs)
• searching for de novo totally random amino acid sequences
• random-sequence proteins consisting of five kinds of primitive amino acids
• experimental approaches for early evolution of protein function
• synthetic genetic codes as the basis of synthetic life
• towards safe genetically modified organisms through the chemical diversification of nucleic acids
• the minimal ribosome
• semi-synthetic minimal living cells
• replicators: components for systems chemistry
• biosafety, biosecurity, IPR and ethical challenges of chemical synthetic biology

Chemical Synthetic Biology is an essential guide to this fascinating new field, and will find a place on the bookshelves of researchers and students working in synthetic chemistry, synthetic and molecular biology, bioengineering, systems biology, computational genomics and bioinformatics.