Synthetic biology aims to endow living
cells with new functions by incorporating functional
gene networks into them. By overexpressing, blocking and rewiring native
gene pathways, synthetic biologists have harnessed this promising
technology to reprogram
cells to perform diverse tasks such as
drug discovery,
biopharmaceutical manufacturing,
gene therapy and
tissue engineering, etc. In this
review, we focus on current
technologies of synthetic
biosensors for
disease detection. We start with the design principle of synthetic
biosensors. Then we move towards the characteristics of simple synthetic
biosensors, which can respond to a single input signal, and complex synthetic
biosensors including Boolean gate
biosensors, cascade
biosensors,
time-delay
biosensors, oscillator
biosensors and hysteretic
biosensors, which can respond to more than two input signals and perform complex tasks. Synthetic
biosensor has showed great potential in
disease detection, but it is still in its infancy stage. More efforts should be made in identifying and constructing clinically relevant
regulation systems. Computational tools are also needed in the design process in order to guarantee the precision of the synthetic
biosensor. The ultimate
goal of a synthetic
biosensor is to act as a
therapeutic sensor-effector
device that connects diagnostic input with
therapeutic output and therefore provides all-in-one diagnostic and
therapeutic solutions for
future gene- and
cell-based
therapies.