Synthetic approaches to study transcriptional networks and noise in mammalian systems

Synthetic biology aims to build new functional organisms and to rationally re-design existing ones by applying the engineering principle of modularity. Apart from building new life forms to perform technical applications, the approach of synthetic biology is useful to dissect complex biological phenomena into simple and easy to understand synthetic modules. Synthetic gene networks have been successfully implemented in prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes, with recent approaches moving ahead towards the mammalian environment. However, synthetic circuits in higher eukaryotes present a more challenging scenario, since its reliability is compromised because of the strong stochastic nature of transcription. Here, the authors review recent approaches that take advantage of the noisy response of synthetic regulatory circuits to learn key features of the complex machinery that orchestrates transcription in higher eukaryotes. Understanding the causes and consequences of biological noise will allow us to design more reliable mammalian synthetic circuits with revolutionary medical applications.