An Introduction to BioBricks
Contents
What is a BioBrick?
The BioBrick logic family is a set of interchangable components, designed with a view to building biological systems in living cells. The members of this family are designed to be compatible, composible, interchangeable and independent; in this way a new generation of biological engineers are building novel devices much in the way their electronically-orientated collegues might piece together transistors, resistors and capacitors.
A BioBrick represents a unique sequence of DNA; it might be a gene that codes a protein or a switch triggered by an external input, it also has a unique name. Whatever its function, a biobrick comes packaged in a plasmid, ready to be assembled into useful devices & systems.
Building BioBrick Systems
Physical parts in the DNA Repository have been designed to be assembled into systems using normal cloning techniques based on restriction enzymes, purification, ligation, and transformation - with a twist: BioBrick parts are composable. The result of assembling two parts is a new part that may be used in future assemblies.
Standard AssemblyThe classical method of BioBrick assembly, done at the lab bench
Insert pic of std assembly
Automated AssemblyAutomated assembly, currently in late stage development at iGEM labs
Insert pic of auto assembly
How do I make a BioBrick?
At the bench
Pic of biobrick flanked by coding seq
Methods:
- Synthesis
- PCR
Adding the part to the registry
This protocol is quick and easy. A comprehensive guide can be found here