Discover how Professor Tom Ellis is rewriting DNA to programme microbes to grow sustainable materials and help build a bio-based future.
Living Code, Living Materials: How Synthetic Biology is Rewriting the Future
Abstract:
Science has focused on reading the code of life to understand how living organisms work, but today, bioengineers are writing that code. Over the past two decades, research at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ has helped pioneer the shift from observing biology to actively designing it. By rewriting DNA in organisms like yeast and bacteria, we can transform simple microbes into programmable micro-factories. Rather than relying on petroleum-based plastics or resource-intensive manufacturing, we can now engineer living cells to grow sustainable, self-repairing materials, from custom fabrics to functional patches, directly from kombucha microbes and sugar.
This talk explores how combining synthetic biology with materials engineering is opening a new frontier: Engineered Living Materials. Looking ahead, we predict that programming nature will revolutionise sustainable manufacturing, food production, and smart infrastructure, paving the way for a bio-based future where we partner with nature to grow what we need.Ìý
Biography:
is Professor of Synthetic Genome Engineering in the Department of Bioengineering at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. For 16 years, his research group at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ has pioneered international efforts in synthetic biology, focusing on rewriting DNA to reprogram cells to address global challenges in health, sustainability, and manufacturing. His lab has moved to chromosome-scale writing and is spearheading the emerging field of Engineered Living Materials by programming safe microbes to grow sustainable fabrics and functional bio-composites. Professor Ellis is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and works broadly to advance bioengineering for a sustainable future.
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