Synthetic Biology and the War on Malaria - 5/23/07

Dr. Jay Keasling
University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Keasling explains how synthetic biology builds on the advances in molecular, cell, and systems biology and seeks to transform biology in the same way that synthesis transformed chemistry and integrated circuit design transformed computing. Just as engineers now design integrated circuits based on the known physical properties of materials and then fabricate functioning circuits and entire processors (with relatively high reliability), synthetic biologists will soon design and build engineered biological systems.

Synthetic biology is used to create inexpensive, effective anti-malarial drugs. Currently, malaria infects 300–500 million people and causes 1–2 million deaths each year, primarily children in Africa and Asia. One of the principal obstacles to addressing this global health threat is a lack of effective, affordable drugs. The chloroquine-based drugs that were used widely in the past have lost effectiveness because the Plasmodium parasite that causes malaria has become resistant to the drugs. The faster-acting, more effective artemisinin-based drugs—as currently produced from plant sources—are too expensive for large-scale use in the countries where they are needed most. The development of this technology will eventually reduce the cost of artemisinin-based combination therapies significantly below their current price. Dr. Keasling describs how the new drugs are engineered and the prospects for translating this research to people most in need of these drugs.