Improvement of Biomedical Structural Polymers by Synthetic Biology Methods

Abstract

Materials that have a biological origin find many applications in both Biomedicine and other Sciences. However, the properties of these materials are difficult to change, since natural biosynthetic mechanisms are difficult to explain, simulate, or adjust. Thus, many materials of biological origin are isolated from natural tissues or their substitutes are produced recombinantly, and then modified in the process of experimental application. A major shift in this paradigm is caused by the emerging field of synthetic biology, which introduces innovations in the "tool kit" of methods for tuning biomolecules and biosynthetic mechanisms. Relative to materials, this led to higher product titers due to reprogrammed natural biosynthesis and allowed the development of new materials by combining the desired domains. Here we can focus on recent applications of synthetic biology to bio-derived ribosomal and non-ribosomal polymer materials for biomedical applications. It is also interesting to describe modern methods that will affect the production and design of biomaterials in the near future. Continuous innovation at the intersection of synthetic biology and materials science promises to usher in a new era of biomaterial design and synthesis.