Synthetic Biology and Engineering Organisms for the Environment

What are engineered microbes? How are they created? And why are scientists developing them? In this lecture, Joff Silberg, Ph.D., Professor of Biosciences at Rice University, will describe what synthetic biology is and how it can be used to develop engineered microbes that have new functions that can identify disease outbreaks, breakdown chemicals, and develop more sustainable fertilizers.

This event is part of the “Engineered Microbes for Environmental Release” webinar series that brings together voices from synthetic biology, ecology, policy, science and technology studies, biotechnology, ethics, and history to explore the social, technological, and environmental dimensions of these innovations. Hosted by the Baker Institute’s Science and Technology Policy Program and co-sponsored by the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute, this webinar series was supported by a grant from Schmidt Sciences and the National Science Foundation (#2223678 & 2515431).