Davide Bersanetti is studying ways to improve bacterial cellulose production by enhancing the genomic stability of Komagataeibacter bacteria. Unlike plant-derived cellulose, bacterial cellulose is highly pure and has useful properties for medical applications, such as artificial skin for burn treatment. However, its large-scale production is limited by the bacteria’s genomic instability. To address this, Bersanetti is using transposons ("jumping genes") to remove non-essential genetic material, aiming to create more stable and efficient bacterial strains. His research contributes to improving bacterial cellulose production, complementing existing efforts focused on fermentation and growth conditions.

Aarni Aspi is developing a groundbreaking educational video game that immerses players in the world of synthetic biology. Originally designed as a teaching tool to complement university courses, the game has evolved into a platform for science popularization and citizen science. By integrating real-world BioBricks databases, players can design genetic constructs without needing prior expertise. Through an engaging storyline—where players take on the role of an intern solving the mysterious disappearance of a professor—the game combines storytelling, ethics, and real-world applications to make synthetic biology more accessible and inspiring.

Doctoral student An Nguyen employs synthetic biology to develop cost-effective, sustainable biomaterials. Originating from plastic-burdened Vietnam, An's research centers on producing chitin and chitosan from microbial sources. By stressing fungal organisms, An enhances chitin output, tapping into the entire biomass for value.

Researcher Manuel Arias Barrantes pioneers a multidisciplinary approach blending science and design, to unlock the potential of microbial self-healing. Barrantes is working with living materials that could autonomously regenerate, defying the wear and tear of everyday use.

Doctoral researcher Mary Astero, is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning to expedite the complex process of synthesizing new drugs through streamlining retrosynthesis.

Research scientist Pradhuman Jethas work focuses on unveiling novel biosynthetic pathways for bio-based pigments. By deciphering the genomic secrets behind the captivating red color pigment of Cortinarius semisanguineus mushrooms, Jetha envisions harnessing these pathways within microbial hosts, cultivating year-round color production in compact bioreactors.

Doctoral student Robert Armah-Sekums research aims to forecast the catalytic activity and substrate interaction of enzymes, circumventing arduous trial-and-error experimentation. By using AI and computational modeling, Armah-Sekum is able to predict the functions of proteins by unraveling the intricate interplay between protein attributes, structure, and function.

Research Scientist Tuula Tenkanen combines AI, synthetic biology and enzyme design to revolutionize bioplastics. She develops new to nature polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), biobased polymers with versatile properties, and employs AI to design enzymes for efficient biosynthesis.

One of the future impacts of synthetic biology will be biosynthetic production in microbes of materials such as silk or composites that can both outperform and replace alternatives made from oil today.

Post-docoral researcher Maryam Sabzevari’s research deals with using artificial intelligence (AI) to design cell factories. Synthetic biology enables building of novel efficient production strains for desired products.

Lignocellulose and chitin, the most abundant polysaccharide resources in the world, could be used to replace oil in production. Taru’s approach is to upgrade the intrinsic structure of these polysaccharides.

Research scientist Anna Ylinen is doing her doctoral thesis at the Center for Young Synbio Scientists on microbial bioplastics.