Clear definitions of the concepts behind Molecular Precision’s work — from structured biological design and SBOL3 to the Nanomedicine Design Stack, traceability and evidence architecture.
Definitions of the core concepts behind Molecular Precision’s approach to biological design, standards and nanomedicine.
An approach to representing a biological system in which its components, relationships, functions, requirements, constraints, specifications, evidence and provenance are made explicit — preserving not only what a system contains but why it is designed that way. It connects information otherwise distributed across publications, data, laboratory records and specifications into a connected design representation that can be interrogated, reviewed and refined.
A representation of a biological design that computational tools can interpret directly, rather than as disconnected documents. Machine-readable designs support interoperability, systematic review, reuse, computational validation and increasingly automated engineering workflows.
Shared, structured conventions for representing biological systems consistently — improving reproducibility, interoperability, provenance and reuse. The Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL3) is a leading example.
A standard for representing biological designs and relationships between their components in a structured, machine-readable form. SBOL3 provides a common representation that can support exchange, interoperability and computational use of biological designs. Molecular Precision uses SBOL3 as part of its structured biological design work.
It is important that this does not imply SBOL3 and the Molecular Precision framework are the same thing. SBOL3 is an enabling standard used within the broader approach.
Molecular Precision’s layered framework for reasoning about a nanomedicine as an integrated engineered system. It connects therapeutic intent (L5) to biological interaction (L4), delivery architecture (L3), nanomaterial architecture (L2) and manufacturing specification (L1) — so that material design follows from requirements rather than beginning with the nanoparticle.
A condition that a biological system or one of its components must satisfy in order to fulfil a higher-level scientific, biological, delivery or manufacturing objective. In structured biological design, requirements provide the link between intent and implementation: design choices should be traceable to the requirements that justify them.
The property that a design decision at one point can be related to the requirement and reasoning that produced it. In the Nanomedicine Design Stack, a material characteristic should trace to a delivery requirement, to a biological requirement, and ultimately to therapeutic intent — and, in the other direction, intent should translate into measurable specifications.
A record of where a design element or decision originated and how it has changed — preserving the history and rationale behind a biological design as it develops and moves between researchers and organisations.
Representing a design with enough clarity and structure that it can be understood, reviewed and reconstructed beyond the team that created it, reducing dependence on undocumented assumptions and tacit knowledge.
The ability for structured representations of biological designs to move between researchers, organisations and computational tools without losing meaning.
Treating experimental and scientific evidence as part of the design rather than something attached after development — so a design decision can be connected to the requirement that created it, the reasoning that supports it, the evidence that evaluates it and the specification that implements it.
The application of structured biological design to lipid nanoparticle systems. Rather than treating an LNP solely as a fixed formulation, components and characteristics — including composition, particle size, surface properties, payload and release behaviour — are related to the biological and delivery requirements they are intended to satisfy and to the evidence supporting those relationships.
Connecting scientific intent and biological design to structured specifications, evidence architectures and technical documentation that can support development, review and regulatory interaction. It is distinct from specialist regulatory or legal advice.
These concepts come together in the Molecular Precision framework and its applied work.