Genome Writing: Current Progress and Related Applications

Yueqiang Wang; Yue Shen; Ying Gu; Shida Zhu; Ye Yin

doi:10.1016/j.gpb.2018.02.001

Genome Writing: Current Progress and Related Applications

Genomics Proteomics Bioinformatics. 2018 Feb;16(1):10-16. doi: 10.1016/j.gpb.2018.02.001. Epub 2018 Feb 21.

Authors

Yueqiang Wang¹, Yue Shen², Ying Gu², Shida Zhu³, Ye Yin⁴

Affiliations

¹ BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory for Innovative Molecular Diagnostics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write, Shenzhen 518120, China.
² BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; BGI-Qingdao, Qingdao 266555, China; Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory for Innovative Molecular Diagnostics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Genome Read and Write, Shenzhen 518120, China.
³ BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory for Innovative Molecular Diagnostics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
⁴ BGI Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116023, China; Laboratory of Genomics and Molecular Biomedicine, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark. Electronic address: yinye@bgi.com.

Abstract

The ultimate goal of synthetic biology is to build customized cells or organisms to meet specific industrial or medical needs. The most important part of the customized cell is a synthetic genome. Advanced genomic writing technologies are required to build such an artificial genome. Recently, the partially-completed synthetic yeast genome project represents a milestone in this field. In this mini review, we briefly introduce the techniques for de novo genome synthesis and genome editing. Furthermore, we summarize recent research progresses and highlight several applications in the synthetic genome field. Finally, we discuss current challenges and future prospects.

Keywords: Bioethics; Biosafety; Genome editing; Genome writing; Synthetic biology.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
CRISPR-Cas Systems*
Gene Editing / methods*
Genetic Engineering / methods*
Genome, Human*
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing*
Humans