Synthetic biology

From “Pig Wings” to “Semi-Living Dolls,” the artists Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr are using high tech tools to challenge our conception of what life is and could be.

In Greg Bear’s novel “Blood Music,” a scientist infected with a synthetic virus realizes that the organisms in his body have become self-aware — and they’re talking in his head. 

Synthetic biology is a great plot device for science fiction, but screenwriters tend to rely on clichés more than the much weirder world of actual science. 

Yeast and E. coli are the workhorses of synthetic biology, reprogrammed and reinvented to manufacture medicine and chemicals. But why stop there? Billions of microbes exist on the planet that might have just the genes we need to make next-generation materials and medicines. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is already on the case.

Synthetic biology is no longer limited to the worlds of giant research institutions and corporations. There is a growing movement to democratize biotech and put its tools into the hands of bio hackers, artists and hobbyists.