Synthetic Biology implies an engineering perspective on biotechnology. Similarly to man-made objects, cells are expected to be decoupled, modified and even built from scratch. However, there is a general assent on the current difficulties for fully -and predictably- engineering living organisms, which are always subjected to strong evolutionary constraints. The ST²OOL project aims at deeply studying four of the key engineering pillars of Synthetic Biology. ST²OOL stands for STandardization, STability, Orthogonality and Open Licence.

The first approach, an analytical one, will consist of a vast range of experimental studies to find out how standard, stable, orthogonal and patentable several selected Biobrick are. The second approach, a synthetic one, will include functional metagenomics: several environmental libraries will be set and screened in E. coli in order to select new biological parts -promoters-, not because of their strength but because of their particularly standard, stable or orthogonal behavior. Taken together, the results of our project are expected to contribute in answering this key question: Is life fully engineerable?