Synthesis offers a powerful and complementary approach to established bioscience methods based on observation, analysis, description, and modeling. Through “tinkering and testing,” scientists, engineers, and artists work together to ask and answer foundational questions that will help us better understand life itself.

The fundamentals of synthetic biology involve furthering our understanding of molecular tools to control transcription and translation, engineering metabolism, computational and AI-based methods to understand the language of genomes and protein interactions, discovery of new synthetic tools, and engineering microbial communities in the gut, on the skin, and in the environment.

Synthetic biology has the potential to enable up to ten billion people to flourish in partnership with all of life on Earth. We are working to partner with biology to realize planetary-scale solutions for climate, manufacturing, biodiversity, and more.

From designing microbes to capture carbon from the atmosphere, to developing crops that are more robust to environmental stressors, to engineering communities of organisms to fight pollution, synthetic biology can enable powerful technologies to address grand challenges in climate change and environmental remediation.

Biology itself is medicine’s ultimate partner. Synthetic biological diagnostics, treatments, and preventions will increasingly define state-of-the-art healthcare and enable global health equity. Efforts seek to unleash the potential of synthetic biology in medical research and practice, including opening access to essential medicines.

Synthetic biology can enable breakthroughs in cell therapy for cancer and autoimmune disease, smart medicines that target specific tissues and cell types, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, brain-computer interfaces, rapid point-of-care diagnostics, mRNA vaccines, microbiome engineering and biologic therapeutics.

Education inequities reinforce inequalities of opportunity and practice. We seek to make sure every person has the option of learning how to read and write DNA, and we have a track record of success in such endeavors. In addition to offering cutting edge courses integrating biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, computer science, social policy, ethics, and arts, Stanford SB also seeks to expand the reach of synthetic biological knowledge towards broader society. As one example, Stanford offers the entire Introduction to Bioengineering course videos, free to the public.

Almost all policy and strategy work involving biology is reactive to immediate needs or emergencies. The diversity of merging biotechnologies calls for careful coordination on policy scholarship and implementation, from biosecurity to bioeconomy and everything in between. At Stanford, we combine best-in-class strategy and policy scholarship with world-leading technology development and translation, offering world-unique opportunities and capabilities, including shaping the intrinsic forms of biotechnologies in support of citizenship and democracy. Explore more at the Bio.Polis website.

From sculptures created with mycelium to music encoded within DNA, Stanford has helped nudge the world in enabling practitioners of the arts, design, and synthetic biology to work together in fascinating new ways. We now seek to bring together the arts, sciences, design, and engineering to enable deep reflection and scholarship on our possible futures at the intersection of art, culture, and synthetic biology.

Synthetic biology impact requires the ability to translate innovations into real-world practice. We work to enable bio-entrepreneurs to connect to and create industries in the Bay Area, and raise the University’s profile in support of a robust 21st century bioeconomy via world-leading advances in synthetic biology and biotechnology. We encourage teams of mission-oriented professionals to sprint-to-completion “impossible” projects that promise to completely reshape the landscape of biotechnology practices and possibilities.

To be world leaders in synthetic biology, we seek to ensure that Stanford students and researchers have access to the fabrication and prototyping capacities and workflows for designing, building, testing, modeling, and learning with living systems, from the molecular to whole-cell scales.

Stanford houses state-of-the art facilities to provide spaces for prototyping and idea generation to our entire community, from novice undergraduate to the world's foremost experts. Learn more about our cutting edge facilities.

At Stanford SB, we have a vibrant and flourishing community of researchers. Through regular seminars, happy hours, and networking events, we seek to foster communtiy on campus as well as extend the reaches of Stanford SB beyond the university grounds. Capitalizing on our prime location in the Bay Area, one of the foremost hotspots for biotechnology research, we seek to establish connections with our local network of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and more. Please reach out if you are interested in connecting with our community.

To be a world-leader in advancing synthetic biology, we seek to empower all people to contribute to the specification and development of synthetic biology capacities, opportunities, and practices, thus ensuring that the future of synthetic biology represents justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion for all. At Stanford SB, we prioritize inclusion among our diverse and talented group of scholars.