Team:UCL/Project/Xenobiology

The wide use of genetically modified organisms causes concerns on how they will interact in the natural environment. In particular could the genetically modified microbes escape our constrains, and outcompete the organisms found in the natural ecosystem? Could the DNA we inserted into a specific bacteria be transmitted, with unknown spread of information?
Since the early days of genetic engineering we had to reflect on biosafety strategies to control these risks, and synthetic biology is bringing these concerns to another level: the more we tinker with biology, the more our biosafety needs to be bullet-proof.

Xenobiology implements the term "synthetic" by creating organisms that are unable to survive in the natural environment and necessitate an artificial intervention from man to exist. It aims to create a synthetic "man-made" version of Biology, that respects the definition of life, but is based on entirely different mechanisms to function. The biochemistry of a xeno-organism uses new XNAs, genetic codes and cofactors different from the ones explored by Biology and is therefore incompatible with other forms of life. This allows a much higher level of control: a xeno-organism will not be able to find the xenocompounds in the natural environmentnor will be able to use bacterial communication systems.

We explored this possibility with the longer term vision of creating an X. coli which lives is metabolically dependent on azo dyes. An alien form of life, different from the one we know, will merge synthetic chemistry with synthetic biology - allowing the remediate the damage that the first one caused and making the remediating agent dependent on the toxic compounds. This system would be completely incompatible and invisible to regular biology, now we can ask: is non-biological life safe enough?