Scientific and technological development at INCT

The INCT activities have led to the development of new technologies, technological platforms, and proof-of-concept products, all with strong potential for adoption by the biotechnology industry, as exemplified below:

• High-throughput processing of large-scale genomes

• Generation of omics databases for data integration and mining;

• Design of biological circuits

• Genomic editing of plants

• Engineering of new functions in plant and microorganism species;

• Generation of synthetic genes

• Development of biological chassis for biofactories

• Production of synthetic mini-chromosomes

• Technology for the creation of artificial cells

• Genetic databases of Brazil’s biodiversity and industrially relevant species

• Tools and know-how for the design and production of biological circuits

• High-oleic soybean

• Gene factories

• Biological chassis

• Aptamers for diagnostics

• Biosensors

Biological Engineering demands multidisciplinary integration aimed at designing, planning, synthesizing, and constructing bio-nano-molecular components, pathways, and biological systems, as well as reprogramming organisms. The engineering of organisms and biological systems is expected to have significant socioeconomic and environmental implications. The de novo engineering of genetic circuits, biological systems, and synthetic pathway modules contributes to solving crucial challenges and is being applied in practical uses. It represents a metaphorical analogy that suggests the possibility of innovatively recombining existing biological parts in order to build new functions

Serine integrases (Ints) have gained prominence and have been widely used in Biological Engineering due to their ability to modify DNA sequences. Ints are recombinases encoded by the phage genome and have been used to unidirectionally catalyze the insertion, excision, or inversion of a specific DNA sequence between two binding sites: attB (bacterial attachment site) and attP (phage attachment site). The entire process is highly specific and precise; therefore, Ints are widely applied in genetic engineering and have been extensively studied due to their unique site-specific recombination properties and potential genome editing applications. Moreover, novel recombination directionality factors (RDFs) and their determinants are continually being discovered, emphasizing the need to update the progress of research involving Ints in eukaryotic cells. Accordingly, this review aims to provide an overview of Ints in eukaryotic cells and highlight how Ints can be innovatively employed to advance genetic engineering applications in health,