| Title |
Are we doing synthetic biology?
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Systems and Synthetic Biology, December 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s11693-012-9101-3 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Manuel Porcar, Juli Peretó |
| Abstract |
Synthetic Biology is a singular, revolutionary scenario with a vast range of practical applications but, is SB research really based on engineering principles? Is it contributing to the artificial synthesis of life or using approaches "sophisticated" enough to fall outside the scope of biotechnology or metabolic engineering? We have reviewed the state of the art on synthetic biology and we conclude that most research projects actually describe an extension of metabolic engineering. We draw this conclusion because the complexity of living organisms, their tight dependence on evolution and our limited knowledge of the interactions between the molecules they are made of, actually make life difficult to engineer. We therefore propose the term synthetic biology should be used more sparingly. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 2 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 1 | 50% |
| Unknown | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 2 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 39 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | 1 | 3% |
| United States | 1 | 3% |
| Unknown | 37 | 95% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 9 | 23% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 18% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 7 | 18% |
| Other | 3 | 8% |
| Professor | 3 | 8% |
| Other | 6 | 15% |
| Unknown | 4 | 10% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 16 | 41% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 7 | 18% |
| Computer Science | 3 | 8% |
| Engineering | 2 | 5% |
| Social Sciences | 2 | 5% |
| Other | 4 | 10% |
| Unknown | 5 | 13% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 January 2017.
All research outputs
#15,286,644
of 22,733,113 outputs
Outputs from Systems and Synthetic Biology
#67
of 97 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#179,486
of 277,884 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Systems and Synthetic Biology
#2
of 3 outputs
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So far Altmetric has tracked 97 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.9. This one is in the 22nd percentile – i.e., 22% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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