Synthetic biology devices as tools for metabolic engineering

Metabolic engineering focuses on controlling cellular metabolism and heterologous pathway flux to maximize the production of a product of interest. In recent years, various “devices” have begun to emerge from synthetic biology which could find widespread application in the field of metabolic engineering. In this review, we describe devices from synthetic biology and discuss the difficulties that may be encountered when using these devices as tools for metabolic engineering.

► Synthetic biology devices may be useful tools for metabolic engineering.
► The widespread application of synthetic biology devices is hindered by the complexity of biology.
► Continued work with these devices may help elucidate design rules for future device engineering.