SynBio-Driven Metabolic Engineering: From Novel Tools to Real-World Applications
A special issue of Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbiology and Ecological Metabolomics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 23 June 2026 | Viewed by 8
Special Issue Editors
Interests: synthetic biology; metabolic engineering; protein engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: chemical engineering; biochemistry; metabolic engineering; biological catalysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Metabolic engineering stands as a cornerstone of industrial biotechnology, enabling the sustainable production of fuels, chemicals, and therapeutics. The convergence with synthetic biology has dramatically accelerated our capabilities, moving beyond traditional, often iterative, strain improvement towards a more predictive and systematic design of microbial cell factories. This Special Issue of Metabolites, entitled "SynBio-Driven Metabolic Engineering: From Novel Tools to Real-World Applications", aims at capturing the cutting-edge advancements at this powerful intersection.
We invite contributions that highlight the development and application of novel synthetic biology tools to address key challenges in metabolic engineering. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the creation of sophisticated genetic regulatory circuits (e.g., for dynamic pathway control), the application of advanced genome editing and CRISPR-based tools, computational and AI-driven design of metabolic pathways, and the engineering of non-model organisms for novel biosynthetic capabilities. A particular focus will be on studies that demonstrate the successful translation of these tools into tangible outcomes, such as the efficient production of natural products, biopolymers, biofuels, or pharmaceutical precursors.
This collection will showcase original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that illustrate how synthetic biology is reshaping the landscape of metabolic engineering, paving the way for a more sustainable and bio-based economy.
Dr. Hao Wu
Dr. Jie Cheng
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metabolites is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- synthetic biology
- metabolic engineering
- microbial cell factories
- natural products
- sustainable production
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