The Hidden Charm of Life
Synthetic biology is an engineering view on biotechnology, which has revolutionized genetic engineering. The field has seen a constant development of metaphors that tend to highlight the similarities of cells with machines. I argue here that living organisms, particularly bacterial cells, are not ma...
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MDPI AG
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Life |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/9/1/5 |
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doaj-1d1b00378fed43f79ca4646342cacb372020-11-25T00:33:50ZengMDPI AGLife2075-17292019-01-0191510.3390/life9010005life9010005The Hidden Charm of LifeManuel Porcar0Institute for Integrative Systems Biology I2SysBio, Universitat de València-CSIC, 46980 Paterna, SpainSynthetic biology is an engineering view on biotechnology, which has revolutionized genetic engineering. The field has seen a constant development of metaphors that tend to highlight the similarities of cells with machines. I argue here that living organisms, particularly bacterial cells, are not machine-like, engineerable entities, but, instead, factory-like complex systems shaped by evolution. A change of the comparative paradigm in synthetic biology from machines to factories, from hardware to software, and from informatics to economy is discussed.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/9/1/5biotechnologysynthetic biologyengineeringliving system |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
English |
| format |
Article |
| sources |
DOAJ |
| author |
Manuel Porcar |
| spellingShingle |
Manuel Porcar The Hidden Charm of Life Life biotechnology synthetic biology engineering living system |
| author_facet |
Manuel Porcar |
| author_sort |
Manuel Porcar |
| title |
The Hidden Charm of Life |
| title_short |
The Hidden Charm of Life |
| title_full |
The Hidden Charm of Life |
| title_fullStr |
The Hidden Charm of Life |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Hidden Charm of Life |
| title_sort |
hidden charm of life |
| publisher |
MDPI AG |
| series |
Life |
| issn |
2075-1729 |
| publishDate |
2019-01-01 |
| description |
Synthetic biology is an engineering view on biotechnology, which has revolutionized genetic engineering. The field has seen a constant development of metaphors that tend to highlight the similarities of cells with machines. I argue here that living organisms, particularly bacterial cells, are not machine-like, engineerable entities, but, instead, factory-like complex systems shaped by evolution. A change of the comparative paradigm in synthetic biology from machines to factories, from hardware to software, and from informatics to economy is discussed. |
| topic |
biotechnology synthetic biology engineering living system |
| url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/9/1/5 |
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