In the laboratory, researchers are developing customized organisms with powerful new capabilities. These modified cells can be programmed to fight diseases, create new wonder materials for manufacturing or produce an abundant source of clean, renewable energy.
In only five years, synthetic biology has spurred more than $1 billion in private investment. Yet according to a recent survey, two-thirds of Americans have never heard of it. This will soon change.
In 2010, for instance, one company will begin marketing a cheap, effective malaria treatment produced by custom-tailored baker's yeast. Another startup announced in September that it had successfully generated high-grade jet fuel from algae. Future applications for synthetic biology are limited only by one's imagination, but some critics believe scientists shouldn't dream.
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