Volume 1 • Issue 1 • 1000108 Curr Synthetic Sys Biol ISSN: 2332-0737 CSSB, an open access journal Research Article Open Access Bhatia and Chugh, Curr Synthetic Sys Biol 2013, 1:1 http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2332-0737.1000108 Review Article Open Access Current Synthetic and Systems Biology Synthetic Biology Based Biosensors and the Emerging Governance Issues Pooja Bhatia and Archana Chugh* Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India *Corresponding author: Archana Chugh, Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, Tel: +91 11 26597533; Fax: +91 11 26582037; E-mail: achugh@bioschool.iitd.ac.in Received September 19, 2013; Accepted November 18, 2013; Published November 21, 2013 Citation: Bhatia P, Chugh A (2013) Synthetic Biology Based Biosensors and the Emerging Governance Issues. Curr Synthetic Sys Biol 1: 108. doi: 10.4172/2332- 0737.1000108 Copyright: © 2013 Bhatia P, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Synthetic biology is a nascent ield of applied science that has found applications in diverse areas such as healthcare, energy, agriculture, food additives and industrial chemicals. Its market is estimated to grow to a value of $4.5 billion in 2015. The role of synthetic biology for development of biosensors for biomedical application and its related governance issues have been considered in the present review. The recent developments in the synthetic biology based biosensors as well as critical factors such as biosafety, standardization and proprietary rights for its socio-economic acceptance have been discussed. Scrutiny of such issues aims to understand the different parameters that can stimulate the growth as well as success of synthetic biology derived biosensors and minimise the associated risk. Keywords: Biosensing; Biosafety; Diagnostics; Standardization; Intellectual property rights Abbreviations: IP: Intellectual Property; IPR: Intellectual Property Rights; FDA: Food and Drug Administration; DNA: Deoxyribonucleic Acid; RNA: Ribonucleic Acid; WTO: World Trade Organisation; TRIPS: Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights; CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate; COP: Conference of the Parties Introduction he quest to manipulate organisms and to create new organisms as well as molecules with desired bio-attributes has led to the emergence of the ield of synthetic biology. Amalgamation of principles of genetics, robotics, nanotechnology, systems biology, engineering and computational biology enables rapid investigation, manipulation and development of an entire genetic circuitry for diferent applications. As a result of large demand in respect of security, biodefense, environmental monitoring and diagnostics, according to husu, the global revenues for biosensor market are estimated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.5% over the period 2009 to 2016 [1]. he global synthetic biology market in the year 2011 was worth US$ 1,537.5 million and the value of the market has reached US$ 2,120 million in 2012. he market is expected to reach US$ 16,745 million by 2018 growing at a CAGR of 41.1% from 2010 to 2018 [2]. Although, the market is expected to expand, the extent of use of biosensors is constrained due to issues of sensitivity, variable readout times, short life span of biomolecules and stability of the sensor. Some of the biosensors also need pre-treatment, prior to use while some are too expensive to manufacture. Because of these diiculties, biosensors that are miniaturised, highly speciic and sensitive, capable of multiple analyte detection and monitoring are current agenda of research [1]. As widely acknowledged, synthetic biology is a multidisciplinary science that endeavours to develop user deined functionality based organisms for the beneit of mankind [3,4], synthetic biology can play a pivotal role in the development of novel diagnostic methods, prevention strategies and therapeutics. It can pave way for beneicial exploitation of biosensing and monitoring mechanisms in diferent domains (Figure 1) based on natural mechanisms of regulations occurring in living systems. Biosensors are constructed of whole cells, antibodies, nucleic acids, enzymes or receptor proteins or a combination of these as the recognition unit, that detect the targets. On recognition, an electrical and/or optical signal in proportion to the target concentration is generated. Synthetic biology can provide the platform to create such biosensor circuits with input processing modules that read genetically coded readouts, thereby, enabling detection of in vivo conditions. Synthetic biology can enable designing of such biosensing systems by connecting diverse sensing parts with information processing modules. For instance libraries usually are screened to identify desired sequences through use of in vitro and in vivo assays or luorescence activated cell sorting, however, it is challenging to identify the right module through such means. Synthetic biology has enabled development of a RNA based biosensor that can support high through put luorescence activated cell sorting to detect P450 monooxygenase activity in vivo [1] and solve the problem of module detection. An miRNA-based classiier biosensor that integrates logic and sensing modules to detect a pattern of up to six endogenous miRNAs for identifying live mammalian cancer cells (HeLa) in a mixed coculture of HeLa/HEK293 [5,6] is a potential commercial candidate. Synthetic biology can enable detection of complex environmental conditions via the integration of genetic ilters and logic circuits into biosensors. An arsenic sensing biosensor has been developed comprising of AHL-synthase LuxI as a positive-feedback element under the control of a native arsenite-responsive promoter that is repressed by ArsR in the absence of arsenite [7]. However, in the presence of arsenic, the promoter is activated, thereby resulting in production of luminescence. Another example of application of synthetic biology in the ield of biosensing is a biosensor based on Escherichia coli (E. coli) developed for detection of the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) on basis of a protein that binds to TNT molecules [8,9]. At present, most of the biosensing systems are designed for detection of environmental pollutants, however, these strategies can also be employed to develop biosensors with application in medical diagnosis.