From Registries of Biological Parts to IDE of Genetic Systems

The design and construction of novel biological systems by combining basic "building blocks" represents a dominant paradigm in synthetic biology. Since 2000, the standardization of these basic parts has been regarded as crucial to the transition from the ad-hoc methods of traditional genetic engineering to the industrial-scale process being contemplated by engineers leading this emerging field. As synthetic constructs become more complex, it will become increasingly difficult to develop registries of biological parts for various applications, organisms, legal environments, etc. The development and maintenance of these resources create new computational and experimental challenges. These challenges will be articulated and a new framework will be proposed that could be used to develop future registries of biological parts.