
Synthetic biology lures Silicon Valley investors - cryoshon
http://www.nature.com/news/synthetic-biology-lures-silicon-valley-investors-1.18715
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cryoshon
It's interesting to consider what synthetic biology actually is in comparison
to what investors think it is. The term is sexy, and the reality of it can be,
too-- but only with advanced scientific understanding, which investors
absolutely never (and I do mean never) have. I'd give "synthetic biology" a
lifetime of two more years as a buzzword.

I work at a synthetic biology company, and largely the term is ill-defined
even here. We make constructs that as a whole are not in nature, yet the
separate pieces are more or less unchanged from their natural counterparts. Is
this actually synthetic, or merely grafting of odd bits together for a new
purpose?

