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Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary science that involves using principles from disciplines such as engineering, molecular biology, cell biology, and systems biology. It involves remodeling existing organisms from nature or constructing completely new synthetic organisms for applications such as protein or enzyme production, bioremediation, value-added macromolecule production, and the addition of desirable traits to crops, to name a few.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 23, 2026

Directed Evolution Method in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Mutant Library Creation and Screening

Directed Evolution Method in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Mutant Library Creation and Screening

Published on: April 1, 2016

Directed evolution as a powerful synthetic biology tool.

Ryan E Cobb¹, Ning Sun, Huimin Zhao

¹Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

Methods (San Diego, Calif.)

|April 3, 2012

Summary

Directed evolution accelerates synthetic biology by mimicking natural selection to engineer complex biological systems. This technique rapidly identifies desired traits for applications like bioremediation and drug synthesis.

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Mutagenesis and Functional Selection Protocols for Directed Evolution of Proteins in E. coli

Mutagenesis and Functional Selection Protocols for Directed Evolution of Proteins in E. coli

Published on: March 16, 2011

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Last Updated: May 23, 2026

Directed Evolution Method in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Mutant Library Creation and Screening

Directed Evolution Method in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: Mutant Library Creation and Screening

Published on: April 1, 2016

Mutagenesis and Functional Selection Protocols for Directed Evolution of Proteins in E. coli

Mutagenesis and Functional Selection Protocols for Directed Evolution of Proteins in E. coli

Published on: March 16, 2011

Area of Science:

Synthetic biology
Protein engineering
Metabolic engineering

Background:

Synthetic biology aims to engineer biological systems for specific objectives, but complexity hinders progress.
Directed evolution, a lab-scale Darwinian selection, overcomes these limitations by rapidly screening variants.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the recent contributions of directed evolution to synthetic biology.
To highlight advancements at the protein, pathway, network, and whole-cell levels.

Main Methods:

Mimicking Darwinian selection on a laboratory scale.
Generating and screening large libraries of biological variants.
Applying directed evolution across multiple biological scales.

Main Results:

Significant strides in synthetic biology enabled by directed evolution.
Improvements in biocatalyst activity and stability.
Engineering of biosynthetic pathways, regulatory systems, and cellular phenotypes.

Conclusions:

Directed evolution is a powerful tool for advancing synthetic biology.
Its application spans from protein engineering to whole-cell design.
Enables rational engineering of biological systems for diverse applications.