Past Activities 2019-2020

Topic 1

Making a bibliographic review on the advances of synthetic biology in the last year, there are developments of synthetic biology in plants, the first to be recorded synthetic biology for sorghum, in which a synthetic gene was designed β-kafirin (syn β -kaf), altered with 10 introduced proteolytic sites, to produce a new synthetic protein β-kafirin in the endosperm of sorghum, which allowed to increase the protein content in sorghum and greater digestibility.
The key technological advance in this approach was the creation of a synthetic endosperm protein which not only disrupts the protein body but also increases the number of sites for proteolytic attack during the digestion process. The research outcomes highlighted the possible advances at hand through plant synthetic biology.

The complete information is found in the Article:

Increasing protein content and digestibility in sorghum grain with a
synthetic biology approach (Liua et al., 2019).

There are also advances in the production of antivenoms through synthetic biology based on recombinant polyclonal antibodies made in plants (called pluribodies). The strategy used exploits the exclusion of viral superinfection to induce the formation of somatic expression mosaics in agroinfiltrated plants, which allows the expression of repertoires of complex antibodies in a highly reproducible manner.

Furthermore, an improved plant-made antivenom (plantivenom) was formulated using an in vitro selected pluribody against Bothrops asper snake venom toxins and has been shown to neutralize a wide range of toxin activities and provide protection against lethal venom doses in mice.

The complete information is found in the Article:

A synthetic biology approach for consistent production of plant-made recombinant polyclonal antibodies against snake venom toxins (Parreño et al., 2018).

Dear All,

It is my pleasure to be part of this on line forum. My name is Marina Rosales Benites de Franco from Peru. I am professor and researcher at Federico Villarrreal National University. I have been working on CBD issues since 1994.

Many experts are agree on there are not new developments in synthetic biology since the last Report of Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Synthetic Biology (SB).  In this context  is huge relevant to think  in apply risk assessment, taking account this technology  is expanding the range of organisms that can be modified, the development of various gene editing tools, gene drives, this kind of organisms might be considered for introduction into the environment at an accelerated rate, SB is supporting by  artificial intelligence, robotics and “big data” to  enable rapid prototyping and testing of highly novel organisms and RNA interference vectors or reagents are being applied in the form of sprays. SB organism do not have ecological niche in ecosystems. Hence, is vital to consider where, how and why we should use SB organisms and how could be the effects on ecosystems, wild populations and its genetic diversity, including wild crops species (De novo domestication of wild tomato using genome editing).

On the other hand, it is priority to enhance capacities to develop methodologies for risk assessment in the field regarding living organisms developed through synthetic biology, especially taking account engineered gene drives, the protocells that replicate genetic material do not exist and novel combinations of genetic material.