Developing synthetic biology for industrial biotechnology applications.

Since the beginning of the 21st Century, synthetic biology has established itself as an effective technological approach to design and engineer biological systems. Whilst research and investment continues to develop the understanding, control and engineering infrastructural platforms necessary to tackle ever more challenging systems - and to increase the precision, robustness, speed and affordability of existing solutions - hundreds of start-up companies, predominantly in the US and UK, are already translating learnings and potential applications into commercially viable tools, services and products. Start-ups and SMEs have been the predominant channel for synthetic biology commercialisation to date, facilitating rapid response to changing societal interests and market pull arising from increasing awareness of health and global sustainability issues. Private investment in start-ups across the US and UK is increasing rapidly and now totals over $12bn. Health-related biotechnology applications have dominated the commercialisation of products to date, but significant opportunities for the production of bio-derived materials and chemicals, including consumer products, are now being developed. Synthetic biology start-ups developing tools and services account for between 10% (in the UK) and ∼25% (in the US) of private investment activity. Around 20% of synthetic biology start-ups address industrial biotechnology targets, but currently, only attract ∼11% private investment. Adopting a more networked approach - linking specialists, infrastructure and ongoing research to de-risk the economic challenges of scale-up and supported by an effective long-term funding strategy - is set to transform the impact of synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology in the bioeconomy.

Synthetic biology, engineering biology, market expectation.

'Engineering biology' is being increasingly adopted as a term by organisations that seek to deliver benefits from 'synthetic biology'. However, are 'engineering biology' and 'synthetic biology' different words with the same meaning or do they signal important differences? By observing how these two terms are currently being described and applied in practice, it is possible to differentiate the two whilst also acknowledging significant overlaps and complementarity. Increasing adoption of the term 'engineering biology' reflects the maturing of synthetic biology since the early years of this century from a research concept to a technological platform that is facilitating the delivery of commercial products and services. The term 'synthetic biology' retains a strong association with its original goal to help make biology engineerable, a challenge that will inevitably continue to stimulate research for decades to come as ever more complex and demanding systems are tackled. In comparison, the term 'engineering biology' relates more commonly to the utilisation of the synthetic biology platform alongside other related technologies to deliver effective solutions in response to increasing market challenges and expectations.