From 2007.igem.org

As of 17 Aug 07

The mission of the Registry is to collect and provide standardized, reliable biological parts to enable synthetic biologists to design and construct biological machines. Parts are defined as bits of DNA that have been designed (and then often constructed) to have a particular biological function with defined inputs and outputs. The Registry acts as a clearinghouse for these parts as well as the biological devices and systems that are built from these parts.

Synthetic Biology is all about the development and use of standard biological parts. Parts are the modular building blocks used to engineer biological devices. Abstraction, Standardization, and Predictability are fundamental engineering principles that define important properties of parts.

Parts are functions. Functions perform an operation on an input to produce an output. To use a part, you should only need to understand its function, not how its operation works - this is abstraction. For example, to illuminate a light bulb you only need to know how to properly apply electrical current, not how to build the bulb or why current causes light.

Parts are combined. The inputs and outputs of parts should be defined and characterized in standard ways so that compatible parts can be connected without having to violate abstraction - this is the principle of standardization. If the lightbulb in your flashlight breaks, instead of crafting a new one by hand, you can purchase any replacement that fits the standardized socket and runs at the proper wattage.

Parts are predictable. It should be possible to predict the output of a part from its input, which is another way of saying parts should be easy to understand. Furthermore, parts should be designed to operate in ways that do not interfere with the functioning of other parts to preserve the predictability of combinations of parts.