The Registry of Standard Biological Parts is a collection of genetic parts that are used in the assembly of systems and devices in synthetic biology

Synthetic biology

Synthetic biology is a new area of biological research that combines science and engineering. It encompasses a variety of different approaches, methodologies, and disciplines with a variety of definitions...

. The registry was founded in 2003 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 and resides in the Koch Biology Building. The registry contains over 3400 parts. Recipients of the genetic parts include academic labs, established scientists, and student teams participating in iGEM

IGEM

The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition is a worldwide Synthetic Biology competition aimed at undergraduate university students.- Competition details :...

, MIT’s annual synthetic biology competition.

The Registry of Standard Biological Parts conforms to the BioBrick

BioBrick

BioBrick standard biological parts are DNA sequences of defined structure and function; they share a common interface and are designed to be composed and incorporated into living cells such as E. coli to construct new biological systems. BioBrick parts represent an effort to introduce the...

 standard, a standard for interchangeable genetic parts. BioBrick was developed by a nonprofit composed of researchers from MIT, Harvard, and UCSF

University of California, San Francisco

The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world...

. The registry offers genetic parts with the expectation that recipients will contribute data and new parts to improve the resource. The registry records and indexes biological parts and offers services including the synthesis and assembly of biological parts, systems, and devices.

The registry offers many types of biological parts, including DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

, plasmid

Plasmid

In microbiology and genetics, a plasmid is a DNA molecule that is separate from, and can replicate independently of, the chromosomal DNA. They are double-stranded and, in many cases, circular...

s, plasmid backbones, primers

Primer (molecular biology)

A primer is a strand of nucleic acid that serves as a starting point for DNA synthesis. They are required for DNA replication because the enzymes that catalyze this process, DNA polymerases, can only add new nucleotides to an existing strand of DNA...

, promoters, protein coding sequences, protein domain

Protein domain

A protein domain is a part of protein sequence and structure that can evolve, function, and exist independently of the rest of the protein chain. Each domain forms a compact three-dimensional structure and often can be independently stable and folded. Many proteins consist of several structural...

s, ribosomal binding site

Ribosomal Binding Site

A ribosomal binding site is a sequence on mRNA that is bound by the ribosome when initiating protein translation.It can be either the 5' cap of a messenger RNA in eukaryotes, a region 6-7 nucleotides upstream of the start codon AUG in prokaryotes , or an internal ribosome entry site in viruses...

s, terminators

Terminator (genetics)

In genetics, a terminator, or transcription terminator is a section of genetic sequence that marks the end of gene or operon on genomic DNA for transcription.In prokaryotes, two classes of transcription terminators are known:...

, translational units, riboregulators

Riboregulator

In molecular biology, a riboregulator is a ribonucleic acid that responds to a signal nucleic acid molecule by Watson-Crick base pairing. A riboregulator may respond to a signal molecule in any number of manners including, translation of the RNA into a protein, activation of a ribozyme, release...

, and composite parts. It also includes devices such as protein generators, reporters

Reporter gene

In molecular biology, a reporter gene is a gene that researchers attach to a regulatory sequence of another gene of interest in cell culture, animals or plants. Certain genes are chosen as reporters because the characteristics they confer on organisms expressing them are easily identified and...

, inverters

Inverter (logic gate)

In digital logic, an inverter or NOT gate is a logic gate which implements logical negation. The truth table is shown on the right.This represents perfect switching behavior, which is the defining assumption in Digital electronics. In practice, actual devices have electrical characteristics that...

, receptors

Receptor (biochemistry)

In biochemistry, a receptor is a molecule found on the surface of a cell, which receives specific chemical signals from neighbouring cells or the wider environment within an organism...

, senders, and measurement devices. A key idea that motivated the development of the Registry was to develop an abstraction hierarchy implemented through the parts categorization system.

The registry receives external funding through grants from the National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military...

, and the National Institutes of Health

National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

.