What is synthetic biology? Synthetic bilogy refers to both the design and fabrication of biological components and systems that don't occur naturally, and also the redesign of existing biological systems.
What this means is that we can harness the power of nature, if you will. For example, we are able to make microbes that are capable of creating biofuel. In an international synthetic biology competition (IGEM), the winners designed a microbe that detected and killed a fungus that seriously damaged the world's supply of bananas. This sort of technology truly is ground breaking, and enthusiasts in the field say that it really is just getting started. We could use it in a number of useful ways, but there are potential risks. For example, an incurable illness could be made and harm millions of people. This is done by inserting artificially made DNA with chosen characteristics (made from the 4 nitrogenous bases Adanine, Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine) into the original DNA, thus altering the organism. However, this process can be unpredictable at times, and certain combinations with known properties and have been known to change properties completely when placed into DNA with other genes. This research is promising and the growth in the field of synthetic biology is prmising, and as it is still in its early stages, the possibilities are endless. I look forward to see what else we will be able to create using this technology.
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