Sensing the future of bio-informational engineering

Thomas A. Dixon (), Thomas C. Williams and Isak S. Pretorius
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Thomas A. Dixon: Macquarie University
Thomas C. Williams: Macquarie University
Isak S. Pretorius: Macquarie University

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract The practices of synthetic biology are being integrated into ‘multiscale’ designs enabling two-way communication across organic and inorganic information substrates in biological, digital and cyber-physical system integrations. Novel applications of ‘bio-informational’ engineering will arise in environmental monitoring, precision agriculture, precision medicine and next-generation biomanufacturing. Potential developments include sentinel plants for environmental monitoring and autonomous bioreactors that respond to biosensor signaling. As bio-informational understanding progresses, both natural and engineered biological systems will need to be reimagined as cyber-physical architectures. We propose that a multiple length scale taxonomy will assist in rationalizing and enabling this transformative development in engineering biology.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20764-2

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