ArticleNature communications2024
Engineering is evolution: a perspective on design processes to engineer biology.
Article in Nature communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Biological Systems as Physical Data Processors: Evolution as a Case of Embodied Computing.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Convergence and Reducibility as Transferability Filters in Biomimetic Design.Journal of functional biomaterials · 2026Review
- iDesignGPT enhances conceptual design via large language model agentic workflows.Nature communications · 2026Article
- LDBT instead of DBTL: combining machine learning and rapid cell-free testing.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Considering Metabolic Context in Enzyme Evolution and Design.Biochemistry · 2025Review
- Improving engineered biological systems with electronics and microfluidics.Nature biotechnology · 2025Review
- Review
- The design and engineering of synthetic genomes.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2025Review
- Explanations for failures in designed and evolved systems.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Bioengineering hybrid artificial life.Frontiers in bioinformatics · 2025Review
- Emerging trends in genome integration tools for precision engineering of diverse bacterial species.Synthetic biology (Oxford, England) · 2025Review
- Data hazards in synthetic biology.Synthetic biology (Oxford, England) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Careful consideration of how we approach design is crucial to all areas of biotechnology. However, choosing or developing an effective design methodology is not always easy as biology, unlike most areas of engineering, is able to adapt and evolve. Here, we put forward that design and evolution follow a similar cyclic process and therefore all design methods, including traditional design, directed evolution, and even random trial and error, exist within an evolutionary design spectrum. This contrasts with conventional views that often place these methods at odds and provides a valuable framework for unifying engineering approaches for challenging biological design problems.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.