Perspective: The promise of multi-cellular engineered living systems

In this opinion piece, we argue for the need to build on our current knowledge base for the development and design of M-CELS, rethinking much of what we have learned from abiotic engineered systems and to extend the concepts of synthetic biology to multi-cellular systems. A major effort is required to characterize, model, and image the dynamical behavior of M-CELS and consequently establish the design principles needed for their robust manufacture. Here, we have presented some of the challenges that lie ahead in several of the key scientific and engineering disciplines, as well as the potentially transformative benefits that could be derived from this work. Much research is yet needed to understand cell population behavior to a level commensurate with the need to establish sound principles for the development and design of future M-CELS and to also develop an ethical framework for such research. Despite the challenges, however, the potential benefits are enormous. While the scientific barriers are considerable, no less are the social barriers that need to be addressed as we enter into this new era of engineered living systems.

We are grateful for support for the Workshop in Engineered Living Systems provided by the NSF, UIUC, and MIT. This framework for research in this field at MIT, UIUC, and Georgia Tech was funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center on Emergent Behavior of Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS) (Grant No. CBET0939511), with additional support from the NIH/NCI (U01 CA202177). We also wish to thank Janet Sinn-Hanlon, DesignGroup@VetMed, University of Illinois, for creating the illustrations and Dr. Umer Hassan at UIUC for reviewing this manuscript. M.L. gratefully acknowledges the support via the Allen Discovery Center award from The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group (12171) and the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF0089/AB55).