Fashion future? 5 surprising industries synthetic biology could take over

mushroom leather
Leather made from mushrooms. Credit: MycoWorks

In this post, we highlight a few of the growing fields where burgeoning synthetic biologists can expect to find job opportunities.

A major goal of the synthetic biology industry is to develop alternative, biology-based methods for industries that typically use petroleum-based products as inputs and produce carbon emissions as outputs.

There are many companies working to produce biofuels or bioplastics. For instance, Synthetic Genomics is engineering algae as biofactories for renewable fuel.

There are several companies using synthetic biology to come up with greener alternatives for fashion must-haves. For instance, Tinctorium, PILI, and Colorifix are finding a way to dye blue jeans without producing hazardous waste.

Synthetic biology companies are reimagining the food space in several ways from revolutionizing agriculture to tackling food waste to coming up with more environmentally-friendly sources of food additives.

While synthetic biologists offer varying definitions of the field, most will agree that an overarching goal of the industry is to shift our reliance away from chemistry and fossil fuels and towards biology. It’s a lofty goal, but with so many diverse companies working to support it, synthetic biology will have a major role in shaping the future of technology across industries.

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