RESUMO
Triterpene saponin is one of the important plant secondary metabolities, with anticancer, antivirus, and cholesterol lowering activities. However, the chemical structure of triterpen saponins and biosynthetic pathway are complicated. The content in plants is low and the cost of extract is high. So it is important to explore the biosynthetic pathway and the synthetic biology has become a hot spot for producing triterpene saponins. Synthetic biology has the broad application prospects on the scale production of triterpene saponins and their precursors. In this paper, the research progress in the biosynthetic pathway, synthetic biology, and its application on triterpene saponins are reviewed. The problems faced by synthetic biology are discussed and the great potential of synthetic biology in medicine fields is predicted.