The following is an edited excerpt.
The latest shopping website is open for business, offering unusual wares: DNA tools to help biologists to engineer life.
The DNA sequences — which allow precise control of gene activity in the bacterium Escherichia coli — are the first output of BIOFAB, which calls itself “the world’s first biological design-build facility”. Launched in 2009, BIOFAB aims to advance synthetic biology by creating standard biological ‘parts’ in the form of DNA sequences that control gene expression. These standard sequences should allow biologists to engineer cells that can make medicines and perform other useful tasks simply by plugging in various sets of genes.
Read the full article here: DNA tool kit goes live online
