Synthetic biology articles from across Nature Portfolio

Measuring pharmacodynamics is crucial for drug development, but traditional pharmacodynamic studies based on tissue dissection and subsequent biochemical analysis are labor- and resource-intensive. We developed a non-invasive imaging method to efficiently and rapidly visualize the pharmacodynamics of kinase inhibitors and degraders using an engineered kinase-modulated bioluminescent indicator.

Non-viral intron knock-ins for incorporating synthetic exons into endogenous introns enable efficient gene targeting and selective gene knockout in successfully edited cells.

Auxotrophic metabolic sensors (AMS) are vital for bioengineering but are often time-consuming to develop. Here, the authors present a workflow for designing versatile AMS, demonstrating their use for sensing glyoxylate and glycolate, with applications in pathway engineering and environmental monitoring.

Current efforts on isoprenoid analogs bioproduction is mainly based on adding functional groups to existing isoprenoid core scaffolds. Here, the authors develop a yeast cell-based biocatalytic method to enable systematic bioproduction of analogs of different classes of isoprenoids with additional carbons in their skeletons.

Current synthetic gene switches face limitations including cytotoxicity and long-term side-effects. Here, authors present an aspirin-activated system, demonstrating the regulation of insulin expression in diabetic mice, restoring glucose levels, alleviating pain, and reducing biomarkers of inflammation.

Constructing synthetic prototissues is a challenge in bottom-up synthetic biology. Here, the authors introduce a “lipid foam” tissue mimetic and demonstrate network-wide tension fluctuations upon compartmental encapsulation of actively swimming bacteria.

Measuring pharmacodynamics is crucial for drug development, but traditional pharmacodynamic studies based on tissue dissection and subsequent biochemical analysis are labor- and resource-intensive. We developed a non-invasive imaging method to efficiently and rapidly visualize the pharmacodynamics of kinase inhibitors and degraders using an engineered kinase-modulated bioluminescent indicator.

The crucial drugs can have unintended consequences. Innovative therapies could shield the microbiome from their effects.

In this Tools of the Trade article, Zong (Zhou lab) describes how using genetic code expansion enabled the precise incorporation of post-translational modifications such as lysine lactylation into proteins, allowing the authors to investigate their role in cellular processes.

Directed evolution is commonly performed in prokaryotic or yeast systems, but platforms are needed to enhance functions in mammalian cells. Now, a tool known as RNA replicase-assisted continuous evolution (REPLACE) enables directed evolution in mammalian cells via mutagenesis and amplification of RNA and selection for desired phenotypes.

Temperature-sensitive proteins would enable the remote control of cellular functions deep within tissues, although few such proteins have been characterized. Melt is a protein that reversibly clusters and translocates to the membrane in response to small temperature changes, enabling flexible regulation of cellular processes in vitro and in vivo.

The programming of multicellular processes for biological computation requires increasingly complex genetic circuit design. Through automated circuit design, it is now possible to systematically break down complex response functions into dozens of interconnected simplified logic circuits, each embeddable in distinct cellular strains.