A framework for challenges and solutions in biodesign research

Yang, Xiaohan [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000152074210); Jiang, Zhihua [Washington State University, Pullman, WA (United States)]; Yang, Shihui [Hubei University, Wuhan (China)]; Cheng, Zong-Ming [Nanjing Agricultural University (China)]

doi:10.1016/j.bidere.2025.100029

DOE OSTI · 2573188

A framework for challenges and solutions in biodesign research

Yang, Xiaohan [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000152074210)·Jiang, Zhihua [Washington State University, Pullman, WA (United States)]·Yang, Shihui [Hubei University, Wuhan (China)]·Cheng, Zong-Ming [Nanjing Agricultural University (China)]

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Abstract

The bioeconomy represents an advanced economic paradigm that builds upon previous agricultural, industrial, and digital economic models. It seeks to tackle critical global challenges such as resource scarcity, escalating healthcare demands, and environmental degradation. At the heart of the bioeconomy is biomanufacturing, which uses natural or engineered enzymes or cell factories built from biological components like promoters, terminators, regulatory sequences, reporters, and functional genes into various chassis hosts (including animal, microbial, plant, and de novo systems) to create products such as food, energy, medicine, materials, chemicals, and engineered tissue/organs. An enabler of biomanufacturing is biodesign – also known as biosystems design and closely related to synthetic biology or engineering biology. This interdisciplinary field aims to understand and predictably modify existing life forms or create entirely new biological entities/systems using rational engineering strategies and automated design tools. Through these capabilities, biodesign supports the discovery, optimization, and creation of efficient platforms for biomanufacturing.

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Yang, Xiaohan [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000152074210), Jiang, Zhihua [Washington State University, Pullman, WA (United States)], Yang, Shihui [Hubei University, Wuhan (China)], Cheng, Zong-Ming [Nanjing Agricultural University (China)]. 2025-06-04. A framework for challenges and solutions in biodesign research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bidere.2025.100029

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