Materials Built by Microbes: A Revolution in Materials Science

Azeem Azhar's Exponential View

From plastics to clothing, we depend on materials derived from petroleum. But how do we create the next generation of materials that perform even better than current options without destroying the environment?

Zymergen CEO Joshua Hoffman joins Azeem Azhar to explore how the precision biochemistry of genetically engineered microbes is opening up new pathways for creating a new generation of high-performance, environmentally sustainable materials for the 21st Century.

They also discuss:

• The transformative implications for the stagnant $3 trillion materials industry.
• Engineering skin products that don’t pose a threat to the environment.
• The value of “productive friction,” when biologists and software engineers collaborate.

Further resources:

• “This year we will start discovering more new biological molecules” (Wired, 2019)
• “If Software Is Eating The World, Biology Is Going To Rebuild It: Josh Hoffman On The Coming Bioeconomy” (Forbes, 2020)
• “The engineering of living organisms could soon start changing everything” (The Economist, 2019)
• “Engineering Biology; The Next Frontier” (Exponential View, 2020)

@ZymerJosh
@azeem
@ExponentialView