Future Visions of Synthetic Biology for University of California San Francisco Lim Lab

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Message Future Visions of Synthetic Biology The emerging field of synthetic biology enables the creation of living designs through science. Challenged by synthetic biology’s growing presence, IDEO designers collaborated with scientists at the University of California San Francisco Lim Lab in the University of Edinburgh’s Synthetic Aesthetics project to create two provocative design concepts around what it might be like to “program” nature in a purposeful, collaborative way. Specifically, the team explored the idea of engineering synthetic organisms capable of forming structurally complex materials similar to plant tissue, chitin exoskeletons, or calcified marine structures. Two “living” concept designs resulted: 1) personal microbial culture, and 2) packaging that creates its own contents. By creating plausible concepts relevant to our day-to-day experiences, this exploration brings the edges of science and design into tangible context, raising questions and meaningful dialogue about the future. A provocation ignited each design. The idea of personal microbial culture began with the question, “What if we could nurture organisms tailored to meet our bodies’ needs?” One conceptual answer: Personal Microbial Culture: A personalized skin care product secreted by a living microbial culture housed in a vessel. This engineered organism lives off the cotton balls that are used to apply it to the skin and produces fragrance, soap, oil molecules, and vitamins, in a combination most appropriate for the individual’s unique skin. “Personal Microbial Culture” has disruptive implications for cosmetics brands. The method that consumers use to select skincare products is shifting away from reliance on experts at department-store counters and toward individualized routines and video tips, hinting at latent demand for a more bespoke, high-touch experience. Integrating synthetic biology into the production of cosmetics could force a brand to understand how it relates to its consumers in a deeper, more literal way. Other questions that IDEO designers asked were, “What if we could train bacteria to grow into a biodegradable, lightweight cup that contains its own product, creating a programmable and biological manufacturing process?” and, “What if the biological material could slowly degrade when water is poured into the cup, creating a healthy probiotic beverage?” These questions led the team to develop this design concept: Packaging That Creates Its Contents: An extreme probiotic drink that relies on bacteria to morph into a physical, cup when exposed to a specific light wavelength. During shipping and storage, these light-molded cups remain alive but dormant until water is poured inside, creating an effervescent, healthy drink. After several uses, the cup’s walls begin to degrade and it can be composted. “Packaging That Creates Its Contents” helps people think about what the world would be like if packaging never created waste. Hotwiring what scientists are already doing with bacteria—responding to light, in this case—completely changes the current packaging model. By conceptualizing biodegradable, lightweight containers built from living materials that reanimate only when filled with liquid, the concept provokes more design exploration of synthetic biology’s potential applications. Both of the paradigm-shifting packaging and synthetic biology concepts have a closed-loop element, providing a glimpse of how the ways people produce and consume could change entirely. “Intriguingly, objects made from living organisms could have unique properties that go beyond their mode of manufacture,” writes Christopher Mims for Fast Company. “In this conception, the bacteria used to grow the cup include some that are an aid to digestion. In other words, probiotics. Embedded in the original culture from which it was grown, and therefore the walls of the cup, the same beasties that give yogurt its healthful punch would leach into water poured into the vessel. The results would challenge one of the primary tenets of consumer goods; namely, that packaging is secondary to the product being sold.” The intersection of design and science allows both fields to explore new questions. Developing a closer relationship with biology allows designers to begin to imagine a future with no waste. Understanding how to program living organisms points to a new frontier of coding—beyond software, into materiality. The Synthetic Aesthetics project received funding from the US National Science Foundation and the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. More details about the project can be found here. In July 2012, the project work received a professional notable Core77 design award in the “Speculative” category. Core77 design judge Bruce Sterling calls it “classy and deft…‘design fiction’ that would impress people in the boardroom.” http://www.ideo.com/work/future-visions-of-synthetic-biology

The emerging field of synthetic biology enables the creation of living designs through science. Challenged by synthetic biology’s growing presence, IDEO designers collaborated with scientists at the University of California San Francisco Lim Lab in the University of Edinburgh’s Synthetic Aesthetics project to create two provocative design concepts around what it might be like to “program” nature in a purposeful, collaborative way. Specifically, the team explored the idea of engineering synthetic organisms capable of forming structurally complex materials similar to plant tissue, chitin exoskeletons, or calcified marine structures. Two “living” concept designs resulted: 1) personal microbial culture, and 2) packaging that creates its own contents. By creating plausible concepts relevant to our day-to-day experiences, this exploration brings the edges of science and design into tangible context, raising questions and meaningful dialogue about the future.

A provocation ignited each design. The idea of personal microbial culture began with the question, “What if we could nurture organisms tailored to meet our bodies’ needs?” One conceptual answer:

Personal Microbial Culture: A personalized skin care product secreted by a living microbial culture housed in a vessel. This engineered organism lives off the cotton balls that are used to apply it to the skin and produces fragrance, soap, oil molecules, and vitamins, in a combination most appropriate for the individual’s unique skin.

“Personal Microbial Culture” has disruptive implications for cosmetics brands. The method that consumers use to select skincare products is shifting away from reliance on experts at department-store counters and toward individualized routines and video tips, hinting at latent demand for a more bespoke, high-touch experience. Integrating synthetic biology into the production of cosmetics could force a brand to understand how it relates to its consumers in a deeper, more literal way.

Other questions that IDEO designers asked were, “What if we could train bacteria to grow into a biodegradable, lightweight cup that contains its own product, creating a programmable and biological manufacturing process?” and, “What if the biological material could slowly degrade when water is poured into the cup, creating a healthy probiotic beverage?” These questions led the team to develop this design concept:

Packaging That Creates Its Contents: An extreme probiotic drink that relies on bacteria to morph into a physical, cup when exposed to a specific light wavelength. During shipping and storage, these light-molded cups remain alive but dormant until water is poured inside, creating an effervescent, healthy drink. After several uses, the cup’s walls begin to degrade and it can be composted.

“Packaging That Creates Its Contents” helps people think about what the world would be like if packaging never created waste. Hotwiring what scientists are already doing with bacteria—responding to light, in this case—completely changes the current packaging model. By conceptualizing biodegradable, lightweight containers built from living materials that reanimate only when filled with liquid, the concept provokes more design exploration of synthetic biology’s potential applications.

Both of the paradigm-shifting packaging and synthetic biology concepts have a closed-loop element, providing a glimpse of how the ways people produce and consume could change entirely.

“Intriguingly, objects made from living organisms could have unique properties that go beyond their mode of manufacture,” writes Christopher Mims for Fast Company. “In this conception, the bacteria used to grow the cup include some that are an aid to digestion. In other words, probiotics. Embedded in the original culture from which it was grown, and therefore the walls of the cup, the same beasties that give yogurt its healthful punch would leach into water poured into the vessel. The results would challenge one of the primary tenets of consumer goods; namely, that packaging is secondary to the product being sold.”

The intersection of design and science allows both fields to explore new questions. Developing a closer relationship with biology allows designers to begin to imagine a future with no waste. Understanding how to program living organisms points to a new frontier of coding—beyond software, into materiality.

The Synthetic Aesthetics project received funding from the US National Science Foundation and the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. More details about the project can be found here.

In July 2012, the project work received a professional notable Core77 design award in the “Speculative” category. Core77 design judge Bruce Sterling calls it “classy and deft…‘design fiction’ that would impress people in the boardroom.”