The big feature I’ve most enjoyed writing for the FT so far this year is in today’s paper. Please take a look.
It’s about synthetic biology, which is emerging as a really hot field of research.
The most eye-catching project in synbio is what I’ve called biology’s “Frankenstein moment”: Craig Venter’s attempt to create a microbe from scratch, using lab chemicals. (Sorry Craig, I know you won’t relish that phrase.)
More significant are the efforts to re-engineer existing organisms, for applications from biofuels to medicine.
And, to accompany the article, my FT graphics colleagues have constructed an excellent illustration to show how synthetic biology works.
