Living Code, Living Materials

Living Code, Living Materials is a free public lecture about how synthetic biology can grow sustainable materials. It is an inaugural lecture by Professor Tom Ellis of Imperial College London's Department of Bioengineering, whose research rewrites DNA in microbes like yeast, bacteria and kombucha to turn them into programmable micro-factories. He explains how engineered living cells can grow self-repairing fabrics and functional patches from sugar instead of petroleum-based plastics, opening a bio-based future for manufacturing and infrastructure. The talk is open to all and takes place in the Clore Lecture Theatre in the Huxley Building on the South Kensington Campus.