Realia et naturalia

In recent decades, approaches from engineering sciences have been successfully applied to biology, transforming the field. These approaches include classical bioengineering and the current wave of synthetic biology, which is the focus of this application. Synthetic biology is a cutting‐edge interdisciplinary field of research that combines the fundamentals of traditional genetic engineering, biophysics, and systems biology, while incorporating elements of computer aided design and mathematical modelling to yield a truly unique approach to constructing biological machines. Recent advances in synthetic DNA technology have enabled large scale re‐engineering of biological systems for numerous applications, such as production of valuable biochemical compounds and active pharmaceutical ingredients, acting as biosensors or therapeutic systems.