Analysis of the Innovation Trend in Cell-Free Synthetic Biology
Abstract
Cell-free synthetic biology is a maturing field that aims to assemble biomolecular reactions outside cells for compelling applications in drug discovery, metabolic engineering, biomanufacturing, diagnostics, and education. Cell-free systems have several key features. They circumvent mechanisms that have evolved to facilitate species survival, bypass limitations on molecular transport across the cell wall, enable high-yielding and rapid synthesis of proteins without creating recombinant cells, and provide high tolerance towards toxic substrates or products. Here, we analyze ~750 published patents and ~2000 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the field of cell-free systems. Three hallmarks emerged. First, we found that both patent filings and manuscript publications per year are significantly increasing (five-fold and 1.5-fold over the last decade, respectively). Second, we observed that the innovation landscape has changed. Patent applications were dominated by Japan in the early 2000s before shifting to China and the USA in recent years. Finally, we discovered an increasing prevalence of biotechnology companies using cell-free systems. Our analysis has broad implications on the future development of cell-free synthetic biology for commercial and industrial applications.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 11, 2021
- Source ID
- 10.3390/life11060551
Entities
People
- Ashty S Karim
- Blake J Rasor
- Cheemeng Tan
- Conary Meyer
- Michael C Jewett
- Yusuke Nakamura
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory
- Army Research Office
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Gates Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- United States Department of Energy