The report "Synthetic Biology" was submitted to the US Congress by the US Department of Energy in ______. Three technical challenges in the synthetic-biology field were formulated: i) Genome scale engineering tools, DNA synthesis and assembly, and analytical tools; ii) Biological design principles, genetically tractable organisms/chassis, a minimal cell and in vitro systems, tools for plant systems, and biocontainment mechanisms; and iii) Computational tools, information standards, and databases.