Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41609588›Full record

ReviewChemical reviews2026

Synthetic Biology of Plants and Microbes for Agriculture, Environment, and Future Applications.

Phillip Clauer, Angelina X Nou, Tyler Toth, Qiguo Yu, Yonatan Chemla, Alice Boo, Kwan Yoon, Christopher Voigt

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Chemical reviews, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Phillip ClauerSynthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Angelina X NouSynthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Tyler TothSynthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Qiguo YuSynthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Yonatan ChemlaSynthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Alice BooSynthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Kwan YoonSynthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
Christopher VoigtSynthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-0844-4776

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Agriculture is under pressure to provide food for a growing population and the feedstock required to drive the bioeconomy. Methods to breed and genetically modify plants are inadequate to keep pace. When engineering crops, traits are painstakingly introduced into plants one-at-a-time, combine unpredictably, and are continuously expressed. Synthetic biology is changing these paradigms with new genome construction tools, computer aided design (CAD), and artificial intelligence (AI). "Smart plants" contain circuits that respond to environmental change, alter morphology, or respond to threats. Further, the plant and associated microbes (fungi, bacteria, archaea) are now being viewed by genetic engineers as a holistic system. Historically, plant health has been enhanced by many natural and laboratory-evolved soil microbes marketed to enhance growth or provide nutrients, or pest/stress resistance. Synthetic biology has expanded the number of species that can be engineered, increased the complexity of engineered functions, controlled environmental release, and can assemble stable consortia. New CAD tools will manage genetic engineering projects spanning multiple plant genomes (nucleus, chloroplast, mitochondrion) and the thousands of genomes of associated bacteria/fungi. This review covers advanced genetic engineering techniques to drive the next agricultural revolution, as well as push plant engineering into new realms for manufacturing, infrastructure, sensing, and remediation.

Indexed as

AgricultureBacteriaPlantsSynthetic BiologyCrops, AgriculturalEnvironmentGenetic Engineering

Identifiers

PMID41609588
PMCPMC12857756

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.