Engineering microbes with designed genetic circuits for medicine, industry and the environment.
Engineered circuits include toggle switches and oscillators. Cells produce drugs such as artemisinic acid, or detect pollutants. Containment and biosafety are key concerns.
Microbes can be engineered as sensors, factories or living therapeutics. Kill switches limit environmental spread.
Key idea: engineering must consider safety and ethics.
Engineering microbes with designed genetic circuits for medicine, industry and the environment.
Synthetic Microbiology is one of the 54 topics in Microbiology. It is rated Advanced, so it suits learners who want specialist depth. Related topics in this area include Microorganisms, Two-Component Systems, Biofilms.
Engineered E. coli that senses tumours.
Work through the Beginner topics in Microbiology first, such as Microorganisms, Bacteria, Archaea, then return to Synthetic Microbiology. Advanced topics assume the Intermediate vocabulary.
The closest topics to Synthetic Microbiology are Microorganisms, Two-Component Systems, Biofilms, Microbiome. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Synthetic Microbiology. To practise the whole of Microbiology, use the Microbiology quiz.
Synthetic Microbiology: Engineering microbes with designed genetic circuits for medicine, industry and the environment. Microorganisms: Living things too small to see without a microscope, including bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi and microscopic algae. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Microorganisms and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Microbiology quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
Living things too small to see without a microscope, including bacteria, archaea, protists, fungi and microscopic algae.
🦠 MicrobiologySensor kinase and response regulator pairs that let bacteria sense and respond to environmental changes.
🦠 MicrobiologyStructured communities of microbes embedded in a self-made matrix, resistant to antibiotics and immune attack.
🦠 MicrobiologyThe community of microorganisms living in and on a host, such as the human gut.
🦠 Microbiology