Figure 1.

General conceptual framework for incorporating top-down and bottom-up perspectives in the synthetic biology design process. Due to our incomplete knowledge of biology, the design of biological systems through synthetic biology is currently an iterative process that incorporates both top-down and bottom-up design considerations. First, a design objective is identified. Next, a suitable synthetic biological system is designed given the known properties of well-characterized components (bottom-up). The synthetic system is then constructed and inserted into a larger biological context with which the synthetic system may interact (top-down), and performance of the combined system is assessed. If the system fails to meet performance requirements, this new information can be used to refine the design and repeat the cycle. Our ever-improving understanding of biology should reduce the number of iterations necessary to achieve a specific design objective.