Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026
10:28
Using Synthetic Biology to Engineer Living Cells That Interface with Programmable Materials
Published on: March 9, 2017
Pathway engineering for sustainable biomanufacturing: integrating AI, systems biology, enzyme engineering, and
1Center for Sustainable Resource Science, RIKEN, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan.
Current Opinion in Biotechnology
|July 15, 2026
Summary
Sustainable biomanufacturing uses microbial cell factories for renewable production. Advances in pathway engineering, AI, and automation create a predictive framework for developing robust microbial production systems.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology and metabolic engineering
- Synthetic biology applications
- Sustainable biomanufacturing and bioeconomies
Background:
- Microbial cell factories are central to sustainable biomanufacturing, replacing fossil fuels with renewable bioeconomies.
- Traditional pathway engineering was empirical, limiting efficiency and predictability.
- There is a growing need for advanced, integrated approaches to optimize microbial production systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances transforming microbial pathway engineering into a predictive discipline.
- To highlight the integration of artificial intelligence, enzyme engineering, and dynamic regulation.
- To present a multiscale framework for accelerating the development of microbial production systems.
Main Methods:
- Artificial intelligence-assisted retrosynthesis for biosynthetic route design.
- Genome-scale metabolic models and host-aware simulations for pathway evaluation.
- Machine learning, high-throughput screening, and cell-free platforms for enzyme engineering.
- Dynamic regulation using biosensor-based feedback systems.
- Automation and design-build-test-learn workflows.
Main Results:
- Pathway engineering has evolved from empirical to a predictive and integrated discipline.
- AI expands route design, while metabolic models and simulations optimize pathways under cellular constraints.
- Enzyme engineering is increasingly integrated with pathway design.
- Dynamic regulation and automation accelerate the development of microbial production systems.
Conclusions:
- Recent advances establish a multiscale framework for microbial biomanufacturing.
- The integration of AI, advanced modeling, and automation significantly accelerates the development of robust microbial production systems.
- This integrated approach is key to advancing sustainable bioeconomies through efficient bioproduction.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Upstream Processing
Upstream processing represents a critical phase in biomanufacturing, wherein biological systems such as microorganisms, mammalian cells, or insect cells are cultivated to produce therapeutic proteins, vaccines, enzymes, or other biologically derived products. This phase encompasses all steps from the selection and genetic manipulation of the production organism to the cultivation of cells in bioreactors under tightly controlled environmental conditions.Host Selection and Genetic OptimizationThe...
01:22Bioreactor Controls-III
Strain improvement is a foundational strategy in industrial microbiology aimed at maximizing microbial productivity, particularly because natural isolates typically yield commercially valuable products in very low concentrations. Although optimizing the culture medium and environmental conditions can improve yields, these adjustments are inherently limited by the organism’s genetic potential. As a result, the focus shifts toward genetic modifications to enhance biosynthetic capacity. The...
01:29Bioreactor Design and Operational System
Bioreactors are engineered vessels designed to cultivate microorganisms under controlled conditions for industrial bioprocessing. They maintain sterility and allow precise regulation of pH, temperature, oxygen, and nutrient levels to optimize microbial growth and metabolite production. Bioreactors range from small laboratory units of 1 liter to industrial systems holding up to 500,000 liters, though only about 75% of their volume is actively used for fermentation. The remaining headspace...
01:28Bioreactor Controls-I
Maintaining optimal conditions within fermenters is essential for maximizing microbial productivity and ensuring process efficiency. This lesson focuses on key parameters—temperature, foam, pH, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and pressure—and their precise measurement and control strategies in fermentation systems.Temperature ControlTemperature regulation is critical due to the exothermic nature of many fermentation processes. In small laboratory fermenters, temperature is commonly monitored using...
02:55Synthetic 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...
Golden rice
Golden rice is a genetically modified...
01:14Scale-Up Processes
The scale-up of microbial fermentation processes is essential in industrial biotechnology, allowing the transition from laboratory-scale experiments to commercial-scale production while aiming to maintain product yield and quality. This process requires meticulous adjustment of equipment design, process parameters, and contamination control strategies to accommodate increasing culture volumes.At the laboratory scale, cultures are typically maintained in 1 to 10-liter glass or autoclavable...