The Center for Synthetic Biology (CSB), established in October 2020 as a center in UCI’s Samueli School of Engineering, aims to address fundamental challenges in health and sustainability by developing and applying synthetic biological systems.

We are witnessing the emergence of a biotech age in which traditional fields of biology are transforming into engineering disciplines and where the unique properties of life — e.g. complex decision making, self-organization, adaptation, replication, and evolution — can be manipulated, controlled, designed, and leveraged to solve pressing global problems. Our center will accelerate this transformation by creating a supportive environment for impactful and rigorous research and the training of the next generation of synthetic biologists.

Focus areas include nucleic acid, enzyme, and therapeutic protein engineering; genetic engineering; cell engineering; systems biology; microbiome engineering; and living materials.