Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34616030›Full record

ReviewNature reviews. Drug discovery2021

Engineering living therapeutics with synthetic biology.

Andres Cubillos-Ruiz, Tingxi Guo, Anna Sokolovska, Paul F Miller, James J Collins, Timothy K Lu, Jose M Lora

Abstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature reviews. Drug discovery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 170 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
170citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

170 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  19. Living Microbial Drugs.Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026
    Review
  20. Genetic Code Expanded T Cell for Controllable Immunotherapy.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article

110 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Andres Cubillos-RuizDepartment of Biological Engineering, Synthetic Biology Center, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Tingxi GuoMIT Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Anna SokolovskaSynlogic, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
Paul F MillerArtizan Biosciences, New Haven, CT, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7899-6798
James J CollinsDepartment of Biological Engineering, Synthetic Biology Center, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5560-8246
Timothy K LuMIT Synthetic Biology Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3918-8923
Jose M LoraIntergalactic Therapeutics, Boston, MA, USA. jlora@intergalactic-tx.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6654-0929

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The steadfast advance of the synthetic biology field has enabled scientists to use genetically engineered cells, instead of small molecules or biologics, as the basis for the development of novel therapeutics. Cells endowed with synthetic gene circuits can control the localization, timing and dosage of therapeutic activities in response to specific disease biomarkers and thus represent a powerful new weapon in the fight against disease. Here, we conceptualize how synthetic biology approaches can be applied to programme living cells with therapeutic functions and discuss the advantages that they offer over conventional therapies in terms of flexibility, specificity and predictability, as well as challenges for their development. We present notable advances in the creation of engineered cells that harbour synthetic gene circuits capable of biological sensing and computation of signals derived from intracellular or extracellular biomarkers. We categorize and describe these developments based on the cell scaffold (human or microbial) and the site at which the engineered cell exerts its therapeutic function within its human host. The design of cell-based therapeutics with synthetic biology is a rapidly growing strategy in medicine that holds great promise for the development of effective treatments for a wide variety of human diseases.

Indexed as

Synthetic BiologyCell- and Tissue-Based TherapyCell EngineeringGene Regulatory NetworksGenetic EngineeringHumans

Identifiers

PMID34616030

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.