Welcome to Semibiotics.org

This site provides a gateway to current research programmes in Semi-biotic Systems and to associated outreach resources.

Semi-biotic systems are systems that incorporate biologically derived components/modules - which could range from multi-protein complexes through DNA constructs to multi-cellular assemblies - and integrate them with synthetic components (e.g.microfabricated systems) to produce hybrid devices. One of the potential attractions of these hybrid devices is the possibility that they can be designed to exhibit higher degrees of adaptability and autonomy than is possible with solid-state devices. Examples include: artificial organelle-like systems that could accomplish the synthesis of complex biomacromolecules, or synthetic multi-cellular structures that incorporate specific sensing and reporting functionalities, such that they could be used in hybrid devices for chemical or biological agent sensing. 

Research into semi-biotic systems falls under the umbrella of synthetic biology, "which is a new area of biological research that combines science and engineering in order to design and build ("synthesize") novel biological functions and systems" (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biology ). It also draws from developments in Systems Biology. This area of research "focuses on the systematic study of complex interactions in biological systems, using a new perspective (integration instead of reduction) to study them" (see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_biology ).

Semi-biotic systems are the practical realization of strategies for the implementation of controlled complex systems. They offer the opportunity to develop new paradigms in autonomous device design, construction and deployment. They also offer the opportunity to better understand the dynamics of more complex systems, as captured by the saying attributed to Richard Feynman: "what I cannot create I do not understand".