As researchers investigate new ways to help people with diabetes, leaders in a newer field called synthetic biology have paved the way for possible future treatments — but their findings won’t be ready for patients anytime soon.
First, you’re probably wondering what synthetic biology is. “Synthetic biology represents an integrated scientific discipline that focuses on either the redesign of existing biological living systems for novel, ‘unnatural’ uses or to create entirely new forms of life,” says Ira Pastor, CEO of the life sciences company Bioquark in Philadelphia. The things made through synthetic biology help us in the areas of medicine, agriculture, fuel and power, and the environment, Pastor explains.
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However, synthetic biology can potentially do even more than that, says Dave Westenberg, associate professor and interim chair of biological Sciences, chemical and biochemical engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri. He’s even hesitant to define the term synthetic biology because of its vast applications. However, as its most basic definition, Westenberg describes synthetic biology as modifying and eventually creating a living organism or its products so they can be used to solve problems.
The practice of synthetic biology isn’t limited to just biologists. “The beauty of synthetic biology is that it has the potential to touch every discipline,” Westenberg says. “While the field started with people in areas such as chemical engineering or bioengineering, I’ve seen examples of projects involving every science, technology, engineering and math discipline but also the arts and humanities.” The website for iGEM, an annual student competition that focuses on synthetic biologic projects, gives a better idea of the potential of this area of biology.
Early applications of synthetic biology in life sciences technically go back to the original genetic engineering of bacteria with recombinant DNA technology to generate new biotherapeutic protein drugs, Pastor says. Synthetic biology has also been involved in the production of industrial-grade enzymes for the food and fuel industries — for instance, enzymes used for the production of cheese and beer.
“Newer endeavors seek the transfer of entire genetic pathways and circuits between species, such as the growth of human organs in pigs, to the more futuristic development of entirely new DNA sequences and cells never seen before on Earth that can do very futuristic things,” Pastor explains. This could potentially include digesting plastic, directly producing forms of fuel or colonizing other planets.
Through his work with iGEM, Westenberg has seen synthetic biology projects that include the creation of a new enzyme that could be potentially used to treat gluten sensitivity, the design of a bacterium to find lead in water and projects focused on new biofuels, building materials and even cancer and infectious disease treatments.
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Synthetic Biology: The Diabetes Link
Within diabetes, there is some early research on how synthetic biology may be used. “Most of the projects for diabetics which I am familiar with focus on designing blood cells that can detect blood glucose levels which can then stimulate insulin production just like the body does,” Westenberg says. “Because working with human cells is still quite challenging, much of this type of work starts in bacteria or yeast as model organisms, and then the gene technology can be developed, tested and optimized to be eventually introduced into human cells.”
You may wonder why researchers can’t just use cells from people without diabetes who produce insulin normally and implant them into people with diabetes, Westenberg says. “People are looking into this, but it’s not very efficient, and synthetic biology can overcome many of those limitations,” he says.
Pastor describes research outside of the body that focuses on the engineering of non-pancreatic cells with genes to allow them to act like the pancreatic tissues upon transplantation into the body. He is also aware of research in the body that reprograms damaged pancreatic tissues with new proteins and nucelotides (which are building blocks of DNA and RNA) to regenerate and repair itself in a similar way to that used by certain nonhuman species like certain fish.
In 2015, there was some news coverage of researchers at J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, California, investigating the re-engineering of the genomes of skin bacteria so they could help the bodies of people with diabetes function better. Other large universities are beginning research in to the area of synthetic biology and diabetes treatment.
“Synthetic biology is still an early-stage discipline in regards to the traditional diabetes therapeutic development timeline, with most technologies currently in the preclinical stages in the lab,” Pastor says.
It’s also typical that the testing and approval process for any new treatment takes several years, especially if the research has not yet reached human studies, Westenberg says. That’s the reason why you likely won’t use synthetic biology anytime soon to treat diabetes.
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However, Pastor is hopeful that ideas under development within synthetic biology may one day help cure the burden of diabetes.
Although Dr. Gordon Weir, co-head of the Section on Islet Cell and Regenerative Biology at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, would like to learn more about synthetic biology as it relates to diabetes treatment, he believes the progress over the past decade in converting stem cells into insulin-producing beta cells hold more immediate promise for Type 1 diabetes. Beta cells come from the pancreas.
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How Could Synthetic Biology Help People With Diabetes? originally appeared on usnews.com
