Synthetic biology has changed how we live, from genetically modified food to insulin production and engineered mosquitos. This science shrinks traditional engineering to the nanometre, tailoring life from inside a cell.

Can we engineer bacteria to remove waste products from our environment and reverse the effects of climate change? Will the future of meat be from within a lab? Can we create new kinds of cells that live within the human body, changing their colour to notify us of disease?

We join Professor Harrison Steel (2016 Roden Cutler NSW John Monash Scholar) from the University of Oxford to discuss how he combines robotic technologies with biological engineering to tackle the world's challenges. At the forefront of scientific possibility, Harrison reflects on which hurdles may prevent a billion-dollar investment and the necessary ethical questions arising when we try to re-design life.

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