Merging metabolic engineering and synthetic biology for the development of microbial cell factories
Marjan De Mey
Centre for Synthetic Biology (CSB), Ghent University – Coupure Links 653, B9000 Gent, Belgium
Technological advances in synthetic biology, systems biology, and metabolic engineering have boosted applications of industrial biotechnology for an increasing number of complex and high added-value molecules. In general, the transfer of multi-gene or poorly understood heterologous pathways into the production host leads to imbalances due to lack of adequate regulatory mechanisms. Hence, fine-tuning the expression of these synthesis pathways in specific conditions is mandatory for successful production. In this context, standardized and well-characterized parts and tools are considered essential to deal with the enormous complexity encountered in nature, as they typically contribute to diminishing the vast search space or speeding-up its exploration.
This work presents the development of an E. coli platform for the production of complex metabolites through metabolic engineering and synthetic biology using standardized and well-characterized parts and tools.
