Synthetic biology is not only a contemporary reformulation of the recombinant DNA technologies of the last 30 years, combined with descriptive language imported from electrical and industrial engineering. It is also a new way to interpret living systems and a statement of intent for the use and reprogramming of biological objects for human benefit. In this context, the notion of designer biology is often presented as opposed to natural selection following the powerful rationale formulated by François Jacob on evolution-as-tinkering. The onset of synthetic biology opens a different perspective by leaving aside the question about the evolutionary origin of biological phenomena and focusing instead on the relational logic and the material properties of the corresponding components that make biological system work as they do. Once a functional challenge arises, the solution space for the problem is not homogeneous but it has attractors that can be accessed either through random exploration (as evolution does) or rational design (as engineers do). Although these two paths (i.e. evolution and engineering) are essentially different, they can lead to solutions to specific mechanistic bottlenecks that frequently coincide or converge—and one can easily help to understand and improve the other. Alas, productive discussions on these matters are often contaminated by ideological preconceptions that prevent adoption of the engineering metaphor to understand and ultimately reshape living systems—as ambitioned by synthetic biology. Yet, some possible ways to overcome the impasse are feasible. In parallel to Monod’s evolutionary paradox of teleo-logy (finality/purpose) vs. teleo-nomy (appearance of finality/purpose), a mechanistic paradox could be entertained between techno-logy (rational engineering) vs techno-nomy (appearance of rational engineering), all for the sake of understanding the relational logic that enables live systems to function as physico-chemical entities in time and space. This article thus proposes a radical vision of synthetic biology through the lens of the engineering metaphor.

中文翻译：

---

合成生物学时代的进化修修补补与理性工程

合成生物学不仅是对过去30年重组DNA技术的当代重新表述，而且还结合了从电气和工业工程学引进的描述性语言。这也是解释生命系统的新方法，也是为了人类利益使用和重新编程生物物体的意图声明。在这种情况下，设计师自然学的概念经常被提出来，而不是自然选择，这是弗朗索瓦·雅各布（FrançoisJacob）提出的“按进化论发展”的有力依据。合成生物学的出现开辟了一个不同的视角，抛开了关于生物现象进化起源的问题，而将注意力集中在使生物系统正常工作的相应组件的关系逻辑和材料特性上。一旦出现功能挑战，问题的解决方案空间就不会统一，但它具有吸引子，可以通过随机探索（如进化）或合理设计（如工程师）来访问。尽管这两个路径（即进化和工程）本质上是不同的，但是它们可以为经常重合或融合的特定机械瓶颈提供解决方案，并且一个可以轻松地帮助理解和改善另一个。these，关于这些问题的富有成果的讨论经常被意识形态的先入之见所污染，这些先入之见妨碍了工程隐喻的采用，以理解并最终重塑生命系统，这是合成生物学所抱有的雄心。但是，克服僵局的一些可能方法是可行的。与Monod的远程逻辑进化论悖论（最终性/目的性）对比。目的论（最终性/目的的出现），在技术学（理性工程）与技术学（理性工程的出现）之间可能会产生机械悖论，所有这些都是为了理解使实时系统能够执行的关系逻辑。在时间和空间上充当物理化学实体。因此，本文从工程隐喻的角度提出了合成生物学的激进构想。