Synthetic biology for people and planet health

Michael C. Jewett

Biochemical engineering is one of the most promising fields of research for the 21st century. It offers powerful ways to improve human health, build the global economy, manufacture sustainable materials, and address climate change. However, current access to biotechnology breakthroughs is unequal, largely due to bottlenecks in infrastructure and education. Here, I describe our efforts to re-think the way we engineer biology using cell-free systems to address these bottlenecks.