Bottom-up assembly of viral replication cycles

Bottom-up synthetic biology provides new means to understand living matter by constructing minimal life-like systems. This principle can also be applied to study infectious diseases. Here we summarize approaches and ethical considerations for the bottom-up assembly of viral replication cycles. Synthetic biology encompasses engineering approaches to either redesign biological organisms with new molecular abilities or build up organism from the bottom to improve our understanding of life. Here, the authors summarize current approaches that can be applied for the synthetic engineering of viral replication cycles and discuss the potential DURC risk associated with such bottom-up approaches in infectious disease.