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Synthetic Biology and Systems Biology

A section of Life (ISSN 2075-1729).

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This is a new section that covers all aspects of synthetic biology and systems biology.

It includes papers on experimental, theoretical and computational approaches dealing with the construction and the analysis of biological systems at all levels, from molecules and molecular networks to virus, organelles and cells, as well as from tissue and organs to whole organisms and biological ecosystems. Top-down and bottom-up synthetic biology studies are welcome, together with the wide range of systems biology investigations. Our aim is to collect high-quality research papers focused on the bioengineering aspects of synthetic biology for practical applications, as well as studies conceived for understanding fundamental biological phenomena.

We are interested in investigations about the design, simulation and construction of genetic circuits; genetic and metabolic engineering; signaling engineering; and control of information in biological systems, allowing cells to perform various tasks envisioned by designers. In more general terms, we are interested in approaches to building new biological functions for useful purposes in basic and applied science. Synthetic biology strategies for the production of fine chemicals and biomolecules, for biosensing, or for bioremediation are additional examples. Interest is also directed towards chemical/in vitro/cell-free systems that simulate biological entities at various scales, suggesting the potential development of radically new technologies (e.g., synthetic cells). We further focus on high-throughput and automated analysis, manipulation, and miniaturization of devices to study natural systems or to produce artificial systems. The integration of experiments, laboratory robotics, and in silico analyses leads to high-dimensional investigation of natural and artificial systems. With an emphasis placed on the modern perspective of systemic computational approaches, we are looking for systems biology reports that embrace theoretical model networks, genomics, proteomics, whole-cell analyses, modeling, dynamics, evolutionary issues, etc., facing the complexity of biological systems from empirical and theoretical viewpoints.

The aim of this journal is to provide a forum for original research papers, articles, reviews, comments, protocols, etc. on practical, modeling, and theoretical projects, and a venue for in-depth discussion on the topics relevant to synthetic biology and systems biology.