The Future of Synthetic Biology

At its core, synthetic biology brings together the amazing worlds of biology and engineering. As Theodore von Karmen said “A Scientist discovers that which exists. An Engineer creates that which never was.” Synthetic biology or, as its commonly referred to, SynBio combines both.

Though SynBio is a large field with many sectors, it’s broadly defined as the use of biology knowledge together with engineering tools (like genetic engineering) to change living things in a desirable way. It can also include creating new organisms.

So far, scientists have begun using microorganisms for pollution clean-up, engineering yeast to produce rose oil, resynthesizing the E. coli genome, and much more.

SynBio also has applications in cellular agriculture, the circular bioeconomy, and therapeutics.