Synthetic Biology Consortium

Leading Australia in synthetic biology innovation

Using new DNA sequences – including those not known to be found in nature – to design, build and enhance existing biological systems and create entirely new functions and organisms.

The development over the past 20 years of systems biology – using omics tools to study complex gene interactions – has built confidence in the potential for synthetic biology to produce transformative breakthroughs. Rooted in earlier advances in microbiology, biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, this emerging field is rich with opportunity.

Synthetic biology is increasingly being used to drive new products that:

• create jobs
• boost competitiveness
• improve global health and wellbeing.

Yeast 2.0 project

This is an ongoing global partnership focused on utilising synthetic biology tools to build the world’s first synthetic eukaryotic genome. The project has attracted key international leaders, from institutions including Macquarie University, to generate a synthetic genome for the well-studied yeast organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae).

Yeast, and S. cerevisiae in particular, are preeminent organisms for industrial fermentations, with a wide variety of practical uses including ethanol production from agricultural products and by-products.

The availability of a fully synthetic genome allows for direct testing of evolutionary questions not otherwise approachable. The synthetic yeast genome is used to answer a wide variety of profound questions about fundamental properties of chromosomes, including:

• genome organisation
• function of RNA splicing
• the extent to which small RNAs play a role in yeast biology
• the distinction between prokaryotes and eukaryotes
• questions relating to genome structure and evolution.

Together with the Australian Wine Research Institute, the Macquarie project team partnered to synthesise chromosomes XIV and XVI as part of the global effort to generate a synthetic eukarytotic genome.