![]() Create innovative products and novel processes. Thus, the syn-bio pioneers are using the science to attain five different objectives:ġ. While hardware engineers design new integrated circuits and microprocessors based on materials’ physical properties, biologists can build syn-bio systems that will help companies change products, processes, or both. Just as synthesis changed chemistry and chip design altered computing in the last century, biologists have built on advances in molecular, cell, and systems biology to transform the science from an analytical to an engineering discipline. Syn-Bio Is Transforming Products and Processes If companies hope to survive, they must learn to use syn-bio to gain a competitive advantage that is, in every sense of the term, sustainable. Just as synthesis changed chemistry and chip design altered computing in the last century, biologists have built on advances in molecular, cell, and systems biology to transform the science from an analytical to an engineering discipline.ĬEOs the world over must come to grips with this fascinating technology right away, especially since business and science have tended to operate in separate spheres until now. ![]() These products are also more durable, generate less waste after use, and are healthier for humans in most cases. Moreover, the syn-bio start-ups are engineering more sustainable products that consume fewer resources, such as land and water, and don’t use fossil fuels and their derivatives. New products and processes will be created that sound like the stuff of science fiction but are ripe to go mainstream. Syn-bio’s frontiers will continue to expand as the world’s knowledge of biology rises, the cost of DNA writing and editing falls, and synthesizing tools become even easier to use. Other industries, such as chemicals, textiles, fashion, and water, which many start-ups are already targeting, will face cost-based competition from syn-bio alternatives in the medium run, followed in the long term by sectors such as mining, electricity, and even construction. ![]() According to our projections, incumbents in sectors such as health and beauty, medical devices, and electronics will be challenged by syn-bio rivals-as the pharmaceutical and food industries already have been-in the next five years. To be sure, because of real-time data collection, automation, and AI, some industries are closer to feeling the impact than others. Like data and cloud computing, DNA and DNA editing are fueling the creation of a new production frontier.īy the end of the decade, syn-bio could be used extensively in manufacturing industries that account for more than a third of global output-a shade under $30 trillion in terms of value-according to a new BHI study. The viability of cell-free biology has improved, allowing companies to use metabolic cell processes that don’t need live cells and make testing faster by using biosensors. New genome-editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, are helping the creation of novel DNA combinations, reducing the costs of editing DNA, and increasing the length of DNA strands that can be replicated without error. Just as arranging zeroes and ones enabled all types of information to be communicated digitally, changing the genetic code-A, T, C, and G, which stand for adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine, the four nucleotides that form DNA-alters biological systems. Already, syn-bio has spawned an industry of science-based start-ups that are trying to alter conventional products and processes, transforming the material world as we know it.īy the end of the decade, syn-bio could be used extensively in manufacturing industries that account for more than a third of global output-a shade under $30 trillion in terms of value. Half a gram of cattle muscle could create as much as 4.4 billion pounds of beef-more than Mexico consumes in a year. Companies can engineer and manufacture an infinite quantity of things, cell by cell, from scratch. ![]() Supply might no longer be constrained by the availability of raw materials. Microorganisms can, in theory, make many of the things that industrial processes currently manufacture, so syn-bio-the design and engineering of biological systems to create and improve processes and products-offers new ways of producing almost everything that human beings consume, from flavors and fabrics to foods and fuels. Biology is usually defined as the study of living things and life itself, but syn-bio has turned the science into the manufacturing paradigm of the future. ![]() It may be a phenomenon without a commonly accepted appellation, but synthetic biology-or syn-bio, as we call it-has become a disruptive force that is birthing the Bio Economy.
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