Table of Contents

The Nature of Nature

By Rowan Jacobsen

Is the genetically engineered chestnut tree an act of ecological restoration or a threat to wild forests?

Genetic Sputniks

By Luis Campos

How Space Age visionaries primed us for synthetic biology

Microscopic Doctors

By Princess Ojiaku

How living medicines bridge the gap between pharmacology and nature

Cheese Quest

By Cynthia Graber

Why is it so hard to make a convincing cheese replacement?

Last Resort

By Britt Wray

Can biotech interventions prevent the mass extinction of coral reefs?

After the Metabiome

By Andy Gonzalez

What if everything around you was alive?

Moving the Needle

By Christina Agapakis

Sarah Richardson and Tom Knight discuss how synthetic biology should define itself