A Proposed Data Model for the Next Version of the Synthetic Biology Open Language

While the first version of the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) has been adopted by several academic and commercial genetic design automation (GDA) software tools, it covers a limited number of the requirements for a standardized exchange format for synthetic biology. In particular, SBOL Version 1.1 only allows the representation of hierarchically annotated DNA sequences of DNA components. This proposal extends SBOL Version 1.1 to include RNA and protein components, and non-genetic components such as small molecules and light. It also introduces modules, which instantiate groups of components that share molecular interactions and work together to perform a desired function. Taken as a whole, these extensions and other improvements to SBOL Version 1.1 enable the representation of a significantly larger portion of the information needed to exchange and reproduce a genetic design.

References:
Galdzicki, M. et al. Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) Version 1.1.0. BBF RFC 87, 2012; DOI: 1721.1/73909.