Synthetic biology and molecular engineering. Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the field of biological research, enabling scie...
 |
| Synthetic biology and molecular engineering. |
This emerging field, known as synthetic biology, is making significant advancements in various domains including medical science, pharmaceuticals, food science, agriculture, energy, and climate change research. The rise of the cloud and distributed computing have boosted that effort, allowing for the processing of larger data sets.
Scientists can perform genetic and DNA sequencing at a more rapid pace and scale, according to Lum. With a better understanding of the DNA composition and functions of cells of specific types, scientists can manipulate and redesign those cells to drive a particular outcome, from biofuels to disease-resistant plants.
“It is collapsing time and expanding the aperture by which we are able to run experiments on a broader set of designs that scientists want to test on,” she said, describing the impact of those factors, while cautioning that plenty of challenges must still be solved.
A recent wave of discoveries has been made possible because of the availability of more computing power. Scientists can now better model and study the interactions of proteins, which are encoded by DNA sequences, Lum said. And while products produced with synthetic biology must still go through standard regulatory procedures, the technology could spur demands for more regulation and it may face obstacles to public acceptance and trust.
“Synthetic biology in its broadest form encompasses a large part of the work that’s being done in biomedicine. That is, how we first understand organisms, but then use that understanding to program them or direct them to do different things,” said Dr. Lloyd Minor, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs at Stanford University. “And I do think that it offers a huge amount of potential across the board,” he said.
“The challenge in biology is that it is not terribly difficult to engineer organisms, to engineer living systems, to do things that can potentially be very harmful. So how do we think about monitoring, regulation, safe oversight in the biology world,” he said.
“It is collapsing time and expanding the aperture by which we are able to run experiments on a broader set of designs that scientists want to test on.”— Jennifer Lum, co-founder of Biospring Partners.
Synthetic biology companies see opportunities for artificial intelligence throughout the product-development life cycle from initial design, where scientists can examine and factor in a greater number of variables and options, to the build phase to testing, where scientists can leverage the predictive nature of AI to quickly determine results.
AI could also play a role in scaling up manufacturing, a critical step if products are ever to gain use, according to Lum. It could have a significant economic impact, too. The global synthetic biology market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $11.4 billion in 2022, according to research firm MarketsandMarkets, reaching $35.7 billion by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate of 25.6%.
Professor David Baker, a biochemist and computational biologist at the University of Washington, runs a lab where researchers have designed new proteins that are used in a range of ways, such as developing drugs and a Covid vaccine called SKYCovione that was approved for use in South Korea. Baker Lab, which has nearly 80 pre- and postdoctoral students, is part of the university’s Institute for Protein Design.
Dr. Baker estimates that the pace of innovation in his field has increased by a factor of 10 during the past two years, due to a combination of deep learning and laboratory methods used to verify that new proteins are working as expected. Researchers in the lab are working on a range of projects, from a cancer therapy, to a flu vaccine and therapeutics for celiac and Crohn’s diseases, according to Dr. Baker.
“It is total science fiction. I still can’t believe this works,” he said. Over the past two decades, 17 companies have been spun out of Dr. Baker’s lab or founded with his input, and three or four more startups are expected to emerge from the lab this year alone, according to the lab.
“It is total science fiction. I still can’t believe this works.”— Professor David Baker, University of Washington.
One of those companies, Arzeda, reflects the ways in which synthetic biology is moving from the laboratory to a range of commercial markets. The Seattle-based startup uses its Intelligent Protein Design Technology to design enzymes and protein sequences. The technology draws on generative AI and other forms of AI, as well as non-AI algorithms such as a physics-based model.
It validates the work in its lab and develops cost-effective manufacturing processes to produce them at scale with contract manufacturing partners, according to co-founder and chief executive Alexandre Zanghellini. Arzeda sells and distributes products with partners such as Unilever that can also co-invest in R&D, he said.
For example Arzeda said it has developed enzymes used to improve the conversion of stevia plant extract to a high purity and higher value form of the sweetener. While other companies can make this conversion using more traditional approaches, Zanghellini said Arzeda can dramatically decrease the cost of the process through its ProSweet Enzymes, scheduled to hit the market in the fourth quarter.
“Protein design is such a complex problem that no human being would be able to carry out the tasks that our AI is able to solve,” Zanghellini said. Arzeda said it is working with Unilever to design detergent enzymes that improve performance as well as sustainability.