Synthetic biology can be used in industrial biotechnology to engineer metabolic pathways to create high-value chemicals using model microorganisms such as yeast. During the Synthetic Biology in Action course, participants engineered yeast to produce beta-caretone for industrial biotechnology purposes. In this talk, they describe the steps they took to engineer an existing yeast pathway to produce the new chemical. These steps include modeling the metabolic pathway outputs, DNA design, amplification, and assembly, and analysis of the final result.
"We've been promised a future of chrome -- but what if the future is fleshy?" asks biological designer Christina Agapakis. In this awe-inspiring talk, Agapakis details her work in synthetic biology -- a multidisciplinary area of research that pokes holes in the line between what's natural and artificial -- and shares how breaking down the boundaries between science, society, nature and technology can lead us to imagine different possible futures.
TED Fellow Lucy McRae is a body architect -- she imagines ways to merge biology and technology in our own bodies. In this visually stunning talk, she shows her work, from clothes that recreate the body's insides for a music video with pop-star Robyn, to a pill that, when swallowed, lets you sweat perfume.
