The purpose for this paper is to introduce the SPIE’s semiconductor and biotechnology communities to the emerging and convergent frontier of Semiconductor- Synthetic Biology (SSB). The paper distills and briefly summarizes key messages from two seminal SSB related documents. The first edition of the Semiconductor Synthetic Biology Roadmap,1 published in 2018, laid out a vision for five high impact opportunity areas that complement and leverage the synergistic strengths of semiconductor based information processing technology and synthetic biology. This Roadmap reflects the cross-disciplinary contributions from experts in the physical sciences, health care and semiconductor technologies. A subsequent 2019 paper, by Bathe et. al.,2 elaborated on and further clarified targets for selected biomaterials and biological pathways for electronic nanofabrication. These works are catalyzing considerable research interest and, as with other roadmaps, e.g., the ITRS and IDRS, will tend to prioritize and focus investments in this area. This paper also offers a few early bioinspired SSB-related results with potential high impact that warrant consideration. Note: Throughout the paper, the quoted text comes from reference 1, i.e., the 2018 SemiSynBio Roadmap.
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