Ethical Food Production Interventions

Applied synthetic biology is underutilized in applications such as building sustainable food systems and repairing the environmental damage caused by conventional agriculture and industry. Despite advances in tools and chassis engineering, there are few robust platforms that translate synthetic biology into scalable, field-ready solutions. This includes not only the production of low-impact proteins and agricultural inputs but also bioremediation technologies for legacy pollutants—such as pesticide-laden soils, heavy metals, and nutrient runoff—that degrade ecosystems and constrain land use. A new generation of synthetic biology platforms is needed to address both sides of the problem: replacing harmful production methods and cleaning up their long-term consequences.