Journal
ISCIENCE
Volume 24, Issue 5, Pages -Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102505
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Funding
- Bailey Family Foundation
- Elisabeth Giauque Trust
- Templeton World Charity Foundation [TWCF0089/AB55]
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering [RO1 EB028532]
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [RO1 HL141805]
- Pittsburgh Liver Research Center [NIH-NIDDK P30DK120531]
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Increased control of biological growth and form is crucial for transformative medical advances, but gaps remain in our understanding of meso-scale rules of morphogenesis. The engineering approach of creating novel synthetic living forms extends available model systems and is essential for the next generation of synthetic biology. Emphasizing emergent self-organization, tissue-level guided self-assembly, and active functionality will greatly increase our understanding of evolutionary developmental and cell biology.
Increased control of biological growth and form is an essential gateway to transformative medical advances. Repairing of birth defects, restoring lost or damaged organs, normalizing tumors, all depend on understanding how cells cooperate to make specific, functional large-scale structures. Despite advances in molecular genetics, significant gaps remain in our understanding of the meso-scale rules of morphogenesis. An engineering approach to this problem is the creation of novel synthetic living forms, greatly extending available model systems beyond evolved plant and animal lineages. Here, we review recent advances in the emerging field of synthetic morphogenesis, the bioengineering of novel multicellular living bodies. Emphasizing emergent self-organization, tissue-level guided self-assembly, and active functionality, this work is the essential next generation of synthetic biology. Aside from useful living machines for specific functions, the rational design and analysis of new, coherent anatomies will greatly increase our understanding of foundational questions in evolutionary developmental and cell biology.
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