Synthetic biology future applications and technology needs

This page collects together some ideas about potential future applications for synthetic biology, broken down by technology readiness levels, and a list of some of the technologies that need to be developed to realize those applications.

Applications

TRL	Application	Comments
0	Synthetic cells	Ability to design and implement cell-like systems containing multiple subsystems to enable energy generation/transfer, sensing, actuation (export of chemicals, movement), decision-making, memory and other functions. Individual functions have been demonstrated in isolation, but limited demonstration of integrated synthetic cells are available. The Biuld-A-Cell consortium is organized around this problem.
1	Engineered multi-functional (living) materials	Biology is able to make materials that have a combination of functional properties, including protection, coloration, transport of materials, structural strength, texture, etc. As we push forward in synthetic biology, we can combine engineered living and nonliving materials to provide similar functions, though we are a long way off from this goal. DARPA's Engineered Living Materials (ELM) program was a start.
3	Cell-based chemical detection and logging	Biology is able to perform molecular recognition at a level of concentration and specificity that in many cases exceed what is possible with traditional chemical and electronic means.
3	Cell-free chemical detection and logging	Comments
2	Gut microbiome engineering	Comments
2	Wound microbiome engineering	Comments
2	Plant microbiome engineering	Comments
4	Environmental bioremediation	Comments
1	Engineered (biological) surface coatings	Comments
1	Environmentally responsive materials	Comments
3	Point-of-need manufacturing	Comments
2	Hybrid silicon cell sensors	Comments
7	Metabolic engineering/materials production	The use of engineered metabolic pathways to make (relatively simple) chemicals is an active area of business, with chemicals ranging from insulin to spider silk to food products. The basic technology is implementation of a enzymatic pathway to produce a biologically tractable chemical in a fermentable organism (e.g., yeast, E. coli).

Technologies

TRL	Technology	Comments
?	Low-cost DNA synthesis/assembly	Comment
?	Circuit design libraries and tools	Comment
?	Subsystem engineering and modularity	Comment
?	Cell-free prototyping	Comment
?	Model-based design	Comment
?	Multi-cellular consortia and engineered commensals	Comment
?	Engineered multi-cellular organisms	Comment
?	Engineered macromolecular machines	Comment
?	Programmable (and orthogonal) sensing and communications	Comment
?	Mutation-resistant systems/mutation compensation
?	Non-exponential phase circuitry
?	Electronic interfaces