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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.
Golden rice
Golden rice is a genetically modified...

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A Versatile Microfluidic Device for Automating Synthetic Biology.

Steve C C Shih¹, Garima Goyal², Peter W Kim¹

¹Sandia National Laboratories , 7011 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550, United States.

ACS Synthetic Biology

|June 16, 2015

Summary

Researchers developed a novel microfluidic platform for DNA assembly and transformation, significantly reducing reagent volumes and streamlining synthetic biology workflows. This innovation aims to lower entry barriers and accelerate the creation of engineered microbes for various applications.

Keywords:

DNA assembly Gibson assembly Golden Gate assembly TAR cloning digital microfluidics droplet microfluidics synthetic biology yeast assembly

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Area of Science:

Synthetic Biology
Microfluidics
Genetic Engineering

Background:

Microbial engineering is crucial for applications like biofuels and pharmaceuticals.
Current synthetic biology tools require improvement in automation to be more accessible.
Physical automation advancements are needed to reduce the barrier to entry in synthetic biology.

Purpose of the Study:

To present an innovative microfluidic platform for DNA fragment assembly and on-chip transformation.
To reduce reagent volumes and minimize product loss in DNA assembly processes.
To demonstrate the platform's utility with multiple DNA assembly protocols and combinatorial libraries.

Main Methods:

Developed a microfluidic platform with 10× lower volumes than existing platforms.
Integrated region-specific temperature control and on-chip transformation (electroporation).
Implemented Golden Gate assembly, Gibson assembly, and yeast assembly (TAR cloning, DNA Assembler) protocols.

Main Results:

Successfully assembled two combinatorial libraries, each containing 16 plasmids.
Demonstrated on-chip transformation of plasmids into Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Verified DNA assembly through sequencing, confirming the platform's efficacy.

Conclusions:

The microfluidic platform minimizes reagent loss and streamlines DNA assembly and transformation.
This automated platform can expedite synthetic biology processes and enable the generation of large combinatorial plasmid libraries.
The innovation is expected to lower the barrier to entry for synthetic biology research and applications.