Advances in automated high-throughput editing and screening of engineered strains

Abstract:

One of the revolutionary features of synthetic biology is that the standardization and modularization of biological experimental objects, methods, technologies and processes can be combined with various software and hardware to forge into an automated high-throughput synthetic biology biofoundry. Disrupting the conventional labor-intensive research paradigm, biofoundry represents a novel research paradigm with highly enhanced technical iteration capabilities, and remarkably promotes the development and industrial applications of synthetic biology. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, this review summarized a series of important achievements in the field of automated high-throughput editing and screening of industrial strains. These achievements range from automated editing technologies such as gene cloning, genome editing, and editing sequence design, to high-throughput screening technologies such as fluorescence activated cell sorting, fluorescence activated droplet sorting, and genome-scale gene perturb sequencing. Moreover, we prospected future development of this field, hoping to provide overall support for intelligent, automated and full chain integrated creation of excellent industrial strains with intellectual property rights.