Techniques of nanotechnology, gene sequencing and fabrication provide Synthetic Biology with the tools to manipulate and design living organisms.

A new set of building blocks Remember Lego, the set of bricks children toyed with creating and building, cars, and many other structures?

Now imagine what you can do, if instead of bricks, you can toy with “biobricks” to construct living organisms. The fast evolving field of biotechnology, especially genetic sequencing and protein synthesis, is providing this very reality to scientists who can’t wait to produce and study such “tools” in the lab. Industrial manufacturers also can’t wait to flood the market with their wide-ranging applications. These synthetic and tailored organisms will be used to revolutionise the production of pharmaceutical drugs and plastics.

Other plans include environmental applications to break down air and water pollutants, medicine to destroy cancer cells, and new energy solutions such as hydrogen generators to make obvious improvements in the makeup and extraction of biofuels.