新本草计划——基于合成生物学的药用植物活性代谢物研究

New materia medica project: synthetic biology based bioactive metabolites research in medicinal plant

摘要:

经过近十年的发展，合成生物学研究的对象从单细胞的生物元件和装置的研究，逐渐过渡到多细胞的复杂体系。植物合成生物学被称为合成生物学研究的“下一篇章”。从复杂而多样的植物代谢切入进行植物合成生物学研究，有助于人类在更复杂的层面上理解生命运行的本质规律，及更深入地认知复杂人造生命的设计和构建的科学及工程原理；也有望在药用植物活性代谢物的合成生物学设计和创新生产方面实现突破。本文综述了该领域的国内外进展，并提出新本草计划的研究设想，通过基于合成生物学的药用植物活性代谢物研究，使数千年传统的本草学研究焕发新生。

Abstract:

In the last decade, synthetic biology research has been gradually transited from monocellular parts or devices toward more complex multicellular systems. The emerging plant synthetic biology is regarded as the “next chapter” of synthetic biology. The complex and diverse plant metabolism as the entry point, plant synthetic biology research not only helps us understand how real life is working, but also facilitates us to learn how to design and construct more complex artificial life. Bioactive compounds innovation and large-scale production are expected to be breakthrough with the redesigned plant metabolism as well. In this review, we discuss the research progress in plant synthetic biology and propose the new materia medica project to lift the level of traditional Chinese herbal medicine research.