Synthetic biology is an innovative and growing field that unites engineering and biology. It builds on the powerful research that came about as a result of a recombinant DNA technology and genome sequencing. By definition, synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary enterprise comprising biologists of many specialties, engineers, physicists, computer scientists and others. It promises a fundamentally deeper understanding of how living systems work and the capacity to recreate them for medicine, public health and the environment, including renewable energy.

NAKFI Synthetic Biology: Building a Nation's Inspiration discusses new foundational technologies and tools required to make biology easier to engineer, considers ethical issues unique to synthetic biology, explores how synthetic biology can lead to an understanding of the principles underlying natural genetic circuits and debates how synthetic biology can be used to answer fundamental biological questions.

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES KECK FUTURES INITIATIVE SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY STEERING COMMITTEE
• The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative
• Preface
• Conference Summary
• IDR Team Summary 1
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS—GROUP A
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY—GROUP A
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS—GROUP B
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY—GROUP B
• IDR Team Summary 2
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY
• IDR Team Summary 3
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS—GROUP A
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY—GROUP A
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS—GROUP B
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY—GROUP B
• IDR Team Summary 4
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY
• IDR Team Summary 5
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY
• IDR Team Summary 6
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY
• IDR Team Summary 7
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS—GROUP A
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY—GROUP A
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS—GROUP B
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY—GROUP B
• IDR Team Summary 8
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY
• IDR Team Summary 9
  • CHALLENGE SUMMARY
  • IDR TEAM MEMBERS
  • IDR TEAM SUMMARY
• Appendixes
  • List of Synthetic Biology Podcast Tutorials
  • Agenda
  • Participants

Funding for the activity that led to this publication was provided by the W.M. Keck Foundation. Based in Los Angeles, the W. M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 by the late W.M. Keck, founder of the Superior Oil Company. In recent years, the Foundation has focused on five broad areas: Science and Engineering research; Undergraduate Education; Medical Research; and Southern California. Each grant program invests in people and programs that are making a difference in the quality of life, now and for the future. For more information visit www.wmkeck.org.

NOTICE: The Interdisciplinary Research (IDR) team summaries in this publication are based on IDR team discussions during the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Conference on Synthetic Biology held at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, California, November 20-22, 2009. The discussions in these groups were summarized by the authors and reviewed by the members of each IDR team. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the IDR teams and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project. For more information on the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative visit www.keckfutures.org.