Functional Requirements in the Program and the Cell Chassis for Next‐Generation Synthetic Biology

Will biologists become computer scientists?

“…Instead, a top-down approach or functional analysis [9] to identify and formulate the master functions of life and their underlying secondary functions, and then the objects associated with them, could provide a broader understanding of the essential processes in cells. How can we dissect biological functions from metabolic pathways to complex behaviours into their essential parts?…”

“…For historical reasons, molecular biology has relied on a bottom-up approach from gene to protein and to function. Instead, a top-down approach or functional analysis [9] to identify and formulate the master functions of life and their underlying secondary functions, and then the objects associated with them, could provide a broader understanding of the essential processes in cells. Thus, current research on creating a genome coding for a "minimal set of functions" rather than a minimal set of genes could help to identify the still unknown functions of many essential genes.…”