Significant efforts have been devoted across the region toward boosting the development of SynBio activities. One of the most significant impacts of such endeavors, summarized in Figure 1, is the increasing level of participation of teams from South American countries in international competitions and events, e.g., the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM), the iGEM design league, and TECNOx. The first-ever participation of a South American team in iGEM was registered in 2006 for a group of young researchers from Colombia ⁵ . Since then, teams from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Venezuela have participated in iGEM ⁶ , or iGEM programs ⁷ . iGEM design league, is part of Leagues Program initiatives, enabling Latin American students to learn and apply SynBio by proposing solutions to local problems without needing a physical (and often costly) laboratory. This competition has created novel opportunities to expand SynBio in South America.

In the case of Brazil, the iGEM participation showed a significant increase over time. In 2009, a single team represented the country ⁸ while in the 2019 edition (the last one based in Boston, United States, since travel restrictions were put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Brazil was represented by six teams—a record number since the first Brazilian participation in the competence ⁹ . Most teams’ projects were directed to solve socially important and locally-relevant problems. Moreover, the teams are often organized in (and supported by) a very enthusiastic local network of researchers, i.e., the Brazilian Association of SynBio, aiming to enhance and spread SynBio information and to connect the private and public spheres. Additionally, Brazilian teams have earned six gold, four silver, and two bronze medals throughout their participation since2009 ^{10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14} .

In Uruguay, efforts have been placed on bringing SynBio concepts to graduate and undergraduate students through the organization and participation in domestic and international courses. Some relevant examples are the Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering course, an undergraduate course dictated annually at the Faculty of Science, UdelaR, that includes a Synthetic Microbiology module ¹⁵ . Furthermore, the Synthetic Microbiology Symposium, organized in 2019, was the first postgraduate course entirely focused on SynBio in Uruguay ¹⁶ . This event was possible thanks to the active collaboration and joint efforts of researchers from the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay; the Systems and Synthetic Biology group, USP-Ribeirão Preto, Brazil; and the Environmental Synthetic Biology Laboratory, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Madrid, Spain. In addition to course organization, and reaching a wider audience, SynBio enthusiasts in Uruguay have been organizing plenary lectures and specialized sessions at national congresses since 2015. Examples of these events are the Pan American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2015 Plenary lecture, given by Rafael Silva-Rocha from USP-Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, and the Synthetic Microbiology Symposium with the participation of Maria Eugenia Guazzaroni from USP-RIbeirão Preto, Brazil and Belén Calles form CNB, Spain, and the Opening Conference for the Uruguayan Society of Microbiology 2020 with a lecture by Pablo I. Nikel (an Argentinean researcher working as a SynBio group leader at the Technical University of Denmark).

SynBio in Argentina started to gain inertia at the beginning of the last decade. The driving force triggering this development has primarily been the dissemination of basic SynBio concepts in courses like “Introduction to synthetic biology” ¹⁷ . The first version of this pioneering course was held in 2012 at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences (FCEyN), University of Buenos Aires. It has experienced a quantitative leap in the number of attendees ever since. The course focuses on the basics of the SynBio toolbox and its multiple applications. As a direct consequence of such learnings, several Argentinean teams have participated in iGEM competitions. In 2013, the Buenos Aires iGEM team built an arsenic biosensor using Biobricks available in iGEM kits (Barone et al., 2017; Amarelle et al., 2019; de Siqueira et al., 2020). Subsequently, several Argentinian groups were involved in the Latin-American iGEM version or TECNOx ^{18 , 19 , 20} . This event aims to address regional problems by applying SynBio tools. Even broader participation is expected in the next editions of the event thanks to the increasing interest of graduate students in this field.

Similarly, Chilean participation started in the 2010s with the 2012 UC Chile team and its project Luxilla Biolamp ²¹ . Later, there have been lectures about basic SynBio concepts by experts such as Ron Weiss at Adolfo Ibáñez University, to promote SynBio among young undergrad students ²² . Yet, one of the most important breakthroughs for SynBio development in the Andean country has been the adoption of formal courses about Synthetic Biology and its applications, for both undergrad and graduate students, at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile ^{23 , 24} .

Initiatives to welcome and develop SynBio in Peru have been scarce and are still young. Peru has participated in iGEM since 2016 with a team formed by high-school students ²⁵ . Undergraduate students started participating in 2020 when long-distance attendance was again possible ²⁶ . Theoretical knowledge of SynBio is also imparted in universities—although practical laboratory experience is virtually absent from most of these courses. Fortunately, the Peruvian government has promoted the dissemination of SynBio by organizing an international seminar in 2020; the scope of this seminar primarily focused on SynBio history, with a significant emphasis on its regulation and possible hazards to Peruvian biodiversity ²⁷ .

Further North, in Ecuador, the situation has been quite similar. Interest in SynBio started with seminars about iGEM in2014 ²⁸ , with the subsequent formation of a SynBio undergraduate research team at ESPE University. Later on, in 2016, the first iGEM group was organized in Ecuador, and it took two extra years to participate in the iGEM Jamboree in Boston for the first time ²⁹ . Nevertheless, these years of preparation paid off, as the team won a Silver Medal in their first attendance and a Gold Medal plus four awards in 2021 (more than any other team that year) ³⁰ . Moreover, in 2022 the Ecuadorian Biotech EC team received six awards and a Gold Medal at the regional iGEM Design League ³¹ . In addition, SynBio courses have been taught at several Ecuadorian Universities, such as Universidad de las Américas (UDLA), Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, and Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL); as well as at other government (Municipality of Quito and INSPI) ^{32 , 33} and non-government organizations (CEBIO) ³⁴ .

All the examples mentioned above are compiled in Figure 1, highlighting the importance of regional and international integration for the development of SynBio across South American countries. Figure 1 also demonstrates that countries with a long academic tradition (e.g., Colombia, Argentina, and Brazil) participated earlier at iGEM Jamborees. Additionally, as discussed in the next section, these countries have a higher impact on the SynBio setting in the region. In Table 1 the main awards and achievements of South American teams have been summarized.

In the last decade, TecnoX, initially organized by former postdoctoral researchers Alejandro Nadra and Ignacio Sanchez at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been the seeding movement in South America that emulated the MIT iGEM competition but centered on local problems instead of replicating a top to bottom approach. TecnoX promotes the adoption of novel technologies to solve the region’s social problems (Nadra et al., 2020). Some of the projects achieved through past TecnoX editions include the development of a kit for detecting hemolytic uremic syndrome; creating a mapping app for avoiding energy shortages; an electronic sensor for detecting mercury in food and water; the design of a sensor for detecting melatonin deficiency; a low-cost sensor for the detection of dengue and hemorrhagic fever, among many others ³⁵ . TecnoX is probably one of the most visionary initiatives in the continent to gather biotechnology students devoted to bringing forward immediate solutions to endemic challenges in the region. TecnoX is oriented to graduate students who will commit to developing a SynBio project for a few weeks (Nadra et al., 2020). Thus, participants outside academic organizations will find it challenging to engage in SynBio projects if they are not pursuing a degree.

Building an economy centered on biotechnology, agriculture, and biodiversity (fueled by SynBio) will make it possible to replace products currently obtained from fossil sources with their bio-based counterparts (Head and Gray, 2016; Arun et al., 2021). Thus, searching, isolating, and developing new microorganisms (and the associated biochemical processes) to obtain products of interest is essential to establishing sustainable industrial processes. In this context, the concept of bioeconomy, which refers to the replacement of non-renewable raw materials with sustainable biological resources in industrial processes (Bugge et al., 2016; Töller et al., 2021), is increasingly relevant within the field. It has been a guiding factor for industrial activity not only for promoting sustainability but also for the enormous economic potential it presents: for example, it is estimated that by 2030 the bioeconomy will account for more than 7% of the market value in the United States (Guo and Song, 2019). Furthermore, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the bioeconomy mobilizes immense capital flows (around 2 trillion Euros) on the world market and generates around 22 million jobs, with an estimated creation of 1 million new jobs by 2030 in Europe ³⁶ . Thus, it is not surprising that governments and industrial entities have been promoting technological development in emerging disciplines, such as SynBio, to consolidate the bioeconomy (Flores Bueso and Tangney, 2017; Wei et al., 2022).

Following this trend, in 2013, the national confederation of Brazilian industry (CNI) released the report “Bioeconomy: an agenda for Brazil”, in which an analysis of the bioeconomy in the Brazilian scenario was carried out in order to identify obstacles and opportunities for the increase in national competitiveness ³⁷ . Hence, the development of the bioeconomy represents a promising opportunity for Brazil (extensible to Latin America), as a country with a large arable area, developed agriculture, a successful experience in biofuels, and high availability of biodiversity ³⁸ . Estimated that the bioeconomy represented US$286 billion in 2016—approximately 14% of Brazil’s GDP.

Considering the foregoing and recognizing that combining SynBio approaches with the enormous Brazilian natural wealth would enhance the arising of new bioproducts, and funding agencies and research institutions provided essential resources aiming to encourage SynBio projects in academia and business ³⁹ . Thus, although efforts were directed to consolidate investments in infrastructure (such as the SENAI Innovation Institute for Biosynthetic) and qualification of human resources, there is still a limitation in the latter. Most of the scientific community is still limited to basic projects, nucleated in iGEM projects with the active participation of predominantly undergraduate students. Although some companies (mainly startups) in Brazil have been working on projects related to SynBio, they have not yet validated their potential in the market or assembled world-class SynBio teams.

Still, a few research groups produce relevant SynBio studies that significantly impact the international scientific community. Brazil’s primary SynBio research node is hosted at the University of São Paulo (USP) at Ribeirão Preto. The origin of this hub is related to the completion of Rafael Silva-Rocha’s doctorate in Victor de Lorenzo’s group (Madrid, Spain), a European pioneer group. For example, Silva-Rocha’s group (FMRP-USP) has established computational tools based on genetic algorithms for the design of complex synthetic promoters in bacteria that display new-to-nature regulatory control at the promoter (Guazzaroni and Silva-Rocha, 2014; Amores et al., 2015) or protein level (Monteiro et al., 2020). These works, and others characterizing complex promoters, have revealed a lack of information on the process of combinatorial regulation at the promoter level in bacteria (Monteiro et al., 2018; Monteiro et al., 2020; Sanches-Medeiros et al., 2018).

Similarly, Guazzaroni’s group at the FFCLRP-USP has been developing novel experimental approaches for mining building blocks by applying concepts in the interface of SynBio and metagenomics (Westmann et al., 2018; Amarelle et al., 2019; Nora et al., 2022). Also, SynBio approaches were used to engineer enhanced acidic resistance in Escherichia coli by characterizing a collection of unique synthetic circuits (de Siqueira et al., 2020). The latter study was emphasized in the “Research Highlights–Synthetic Biology” section of Nature Chemical Biology (Deane, 2020). It is worth noting that both groups (Silva-Rocha and Guazzaroni) jointly organized the I, II, and III Workshop on Systems Microbiology and Synthetic Biology, international events held at USP in 2015, 2017, and 2019, with the participation of renowned national and international speakers (i.e., researchers from the University of Edinburgh-Scotland, Instituto Clemente Estable from Montevideo-Uruguay and the University of Cambridge-England).

Argentina is on its way to consolidate a central pillar: the bioeconomy ⁴⁰ . In alignment with Brazil, Argentina is focusing on establishing a strong foundation in the bioeconomy. In order to bolster this scientific framework, Argentina allocates 0.2%–0.4% of its GDP, with 80% of these funds allocated to the fields of Engineering, Agriculture, Material Science, Biology, Health, and Natural Science ⁴¹ . These areas are crucial in the advancement of disciplines such as SynBio. Currently, Argentina is in the preparatory stage of further developing SynBio, as there is significant potential for the exploitation of SynBio projects within the country.

In the last 20 years in Argentina, significant advances have been achieved in sustainable development, research, and innovation–including several niches across the different productive areas (mostly biotechnology, agriculture, and biomaterials) ⁴² . Since then, many initiatives have focused on promoting knowledge-based areas and generating added value in the extensive productive supply chain. This policy is being implemented, and it is aligned with a techno-productive development model towards2030 ⁴³ . Another critical aspect and relevant fact pushing this transition forward include the collaboration between public and private sector entities in many multidisciplinary projects. This continuous interaction created an innovation hub of Argentinian startups and strengthened the existing enterprises and institutions that paved the way to a greener society ⁴⁴ .

SynBio research in Argentinian academic institutions is slowly gaining momentum with the support of research groups, such as the one led by Alejandro Colman-Lerner, Alejandro Nadra at the University of Buenos Aires; Hugo Gramajo, Cristian Suárez as well as Larisa Estefanía Cybulski at the Institute of Cellular and Molecular biology of Rosario-IBR (National University of Rosario). Colman-Lerner’s group explores gene expression systems (Givré et al., 2022), while Nadra’s group focuses on developing biosensors (Barone et al., 2017), and Gramajo’s group in exploring the potential of novel organisms in polyketide and fatty acids biosynthesis (Roulet et al., 2018; Livieri et al., 2019). Currently, the country is following a learning process and becoming familiar with the SynBio tools that are available in the field.

In the last decade, Chile has invested significant public and private resources in science and technology, enabling significant scientific development in the region. During these years, investment in R&D has been stable at a 0.3% of GDP ⁴⁵ . An important source of investment is the government-led initiative Fondo de Financiamiento de Centros de Investigación en Áreas Prioritarias (FONDAP), which was created in 1997 and has provided dozens of millions of dollars yearly ever since ^{46 , 47} . Additionally, the Ministry for Planning and Political Economy supported the creation and operation of the Millennium Nucleus Center for Plant Functional Genomics, a lab that specializes in plant systems and synthetic biology ⁴⁸ . This investment translated into breakthroughs in, among other areas, SynBio. A Synthetic Biology group at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, led by Fernán Federici, has developed or been involved in novel progress in SynBio, such as DNA assembly tools (Pollak et al., 2020), Cell-Free expression and RNA sensing systems (Arce et al., 2021; Guzman-Chavez et al., 2022), genetic tools for marine protists (Faktorová et al., 2020), improving soil microorganisms for agricultural applications (Zúñiga et al., 2018), and data analysis tools (Yáñez Feliú et al., 2021).

On the other hand, in 1984, Uruguay created the Programa de Desarrollo de Ciencias Básicas (PEDECIBA) to promote the research and education in biology, physics, mathematics, chemistry and geosciences, and basic sciences ⁴⁹ . This program together with the creation of the Faculty of Science and other more recent public efforts, such as the National Agency for Investigation and Innovation (ANII), allowed the consolidation of research groups around molecular and structural biology, imageneology, proteomics, computational biology, among others, that represent the basis for the development of SynBio ⁵⁰ . More than half of the first-rate scientific research is produced at the Universidad de la República, while the rest is mainly produced at research centers like the Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable (IIBCE), Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) and Institut Pasteur de Montevideo (IPMOnt) ⁵¹ . In these institutes, several research groups are dedicated to microbiology, structural biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, molecular modeling, bioinformatics, microscopy, and protein engineering, preparing a fertile field for developing SynBio.

Nevertheless, there is still a reduced and dispersed number of researchers focused on this field. Examples are found in the Faculty of Science where Gonzalo Moratorio explores the use of SynBio to study the experimental evolution of viruses (Moratorio 2020; Pintó et al., 2021), Vanessa Amarelle from IIBCE that of seeks new “regulatory parts” from metagenomic libraries in collaboration with Guazzaroni group at USP Ribeirao Preto (Westmann et al., 2018; Amarelle et al., 2019) and Raúl Platero that participate in the assembly of modular vectors with standard architecture during its postdoc in Victor’s de Lorenzo group in Madrid (Silva-Rocha et al., 2013). A close inspection of funded projects by the Uruguayan Agency for Investigation and Innovation allows us to identify other groups strongly working in SynBio approaches, such as Felipe Trajtemberg groups ⁵² that exploit its experience in structural biology to design new sensing/response devices (Lima et al., 2021). Uruguay has seen a considerable investment of state resources in education (≈4.5% of the gross domestic product, GDP), as well as in research and development (≈0.5% of the GDP) ⁵³ .

SynBio is making significant contributions to the industry in many world countries. However, Uruguay is far from implementing SynBio approaches in the industry, partly due to the lack of two pillars for bioinnovation: a solid local high-tech industry and a critical mass of researchers dedicated to SynBio among the local scientific community. Based on the comments from Section 2.2, it is expected that in the coming years, a new generation of researchers will establish the basis of a SynBio-based industry in Uruguay.

Similarly, Ecuador has invested resources in developing microbiology, molecular biology, and SynBio technologies. Mainly since 2003, when the Ecuadorian government created the Ecuadorian Corporation for the Development of Research and Academia (CEDIA in Spanish) ⁵⁴ . This institution has sponsored scientific projects through direct funding each year. This effort has, nevertheless, been focused mainly on its agricultural sector and conservation (Torres and Santos-Ordóñez, 2020). As well as in other countries with access to the Amazon rainforest, genetic resources from native Ecuadorian species have shown potential for therapeutic and industrial applications (Morocho et al., 2018; Proaño-Bolaños et al., 2019; Sánchez García and Quilumbango Grijalva, 2021). Thus, Ecuadorian genetic diversity is a promising source for bioparts with novel characteristics for synthetic biology.

SynBio research in Ecuador has followed a similar path to Uruguay, with a few institutions conducting SynBio-related research. The Centro de Investigación Biomédica at Universidad UTE (CENBIO-UTE) and the Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE (ESPE) are at the forefront of SynBio in Ecuador. For example, in collaboration with researchers of the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas in USP, researchers at CENBIO, developed novel tools for engineering the non-model Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia sacchari (Guamán et al., 2018). ESPE has been a critical node for iGEM teams and agrobiotechnology applications. On the educational side, the creation of a master’s degree in Synthetic Biology opens up new opportunities for the training of researchers in the field. Plus, interest in biotech is ever-growing thanks to several universities offering Biotech Engineering or related careers to local students ^{55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60} .

The development of SynBio in the region is still in its infancy, as there are no consolidated companies that apply this technology to their R&D ⁶¹ . Nevertheless, during the last decade, many startups were created and started to play a pivotal role in the development of industrial SynBio. In the case of Argentina, the Argentine Chamber of Biotechnology (CAB) gathered 67 startups that pursue integrating new biotechnology-based companies with the support and networking of the largest companies in the biotechnology sector ⁶² . Among these startups, Inmet - “Ingeniería metabólica” represents a clear example of a biotechnology-based startup that integrates a SynBio platform to design, build and optimize cell factories for multiple purposes. In particular, Inmet uses several SynBio tools and approaches (synthetic promoters, targeted multiplex genome editing systems, precursor supply optimization, and feedback/forward regulation control), and they have established a systematic and iterative workflow that allows an efficient product development process. In addition, Inmet collaborates with key players in biotech to develop and produce high-value compounds such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), biodiesel, natural preservatives, biopesticides, and enzymes for the food industry among others ⁶³ .

In 2019, Syocin was founded as a successful venture-backed startup in California with subsidiary businesses in Argentina. The company specializes in producing protein-based bio-bactericides using a platform that combines in silico, in vitro, and in vivo methods to target various bacteria. This platform also utilized SynBio tools, allowing for versatility in designing the desired biomolecule ⁶⁴ . Andes, another startup founded in Chile and now based in California, developed a system for introducing symbiotic bacteria into plant seeds to increase yield ⁶⁵ . The company plans to incorporate SynBio into this system to engineer the bacteria and improve host-microbe interactions ⁶⁶ . In Ecuador, SilicoChem, a startup spun out of UTPL, focuses on producing omega-3 fatty acids through genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisiae ⁶⁷ .

In South America, biotech accelerators such as Ganesha Lab in Chile and GridX in Argentina have provided support and funding to emerging biotech companies ^{68 , 69} . However, these accelerators do not offer access to research facilities or specialized business training like those found in developed nations, such as IndieBio, StartCodon, Startup + Health, and 37 Angels. The biotech sector in South America still lacks mature venture capital options that can address the diverse needs of biotech startups, including consulting services for regulatory and intellectual property issues and access to equipped technical facilities ⁷⁰ . Despite this, these limitations present opportunities for potential investors in the region.

The impact of SynBio on the South American economy has so far been limited, with no major projects utilizing the region’s strengths, such as its commodity market. However, this trend could change if iGEM ideas are developed into market-ready products or services. A list of SynBio startups can be found in Table 2.

SynBio tools and innovations have impacted art, education, environmental monitoring, and the fashion industry through the D-I-Y (Do it Yourself) movement (Landrain et al., 2013). Members or “biohackers” are usually amateur biologists aiming to develop easy-to-use and affordable techniques or products or teach biology and molecular biology outside academia (Seyfried et al., 2014). Because of this, more and more scientists and people with less or no formal education have learned and applied SynBio, usually in community labs (Bennett et al., 2009; Delgado, 2013). Nevertheless, assembling a DIY laboratory with little to no outside funding represents a significant challenge. Thus, equipment from FabLabs and Open-Source Hardware has filled the void caused by the unaffordability of traditional instruments ⁷¹ .