The emerging field of synthetic biology enables the creation of living designs through science. Two concept designs explore and provoke dialogue about the future: 1) Personal microbial culture, and 2) Packaging that creates its own contents.

Challenged by synthetic biology’s emerging presence, we collaborated with scientists in the University of Edinburgh’s Synthetic Aesthetics project to create two design concepts around what it might be like to “program” nature in a more purposeful, collaborative way.

We set out to explore the idea of engineering synthetic organisms capable of forming structurally complex materials similar to plant tissue, chitin exoskeletons, or calcified marine structures.

A provocation ignited each concept. For personal microbial culture, we asked, “What if we could nurture organisms tailored to meet our bodies’ needs?” To explore packaging that creates its own contents, we asked, “What if we could train bacteria to grow into a biodegradable, lightweight cup that contains its own product, creating a programmable and biological manufacturing process?” What if the biological material could slowly degrade when water is poured into the cup, creating a healthy probiotic beverage?”

Synthetic biology is typically applied to abstract challenges such as curing cancer or alternative energy sources. By creating plausible concepts relevant to our day-to-day experiences, this exploration brings the edges of science and design into more tangible context, raising questions with the power to transform industries.

We aimed to explore and provoke dialogue about the future around two concepts:

1. Personal microbial culture:
A personalized skin care product secreted by a living microbial culture housed in a vessel. This engineered organism lives off the cotton balls that are used to apply it to the skin and produces fragrance, soap, oil molecules, and vitamins, in a combination most appropriate for the individual’s unique skin.

2. Packaging that creates its own contents:
An extreme probiotic drink that relies on bacteria to morph into a physical, cup when exposed to a specific light wavelength. During shipping and storage, these light-molded cups remain alive but dormant until water is poured inside, creating an effervescent, healthy drink. After several uses, the cup’s walls begin to degrade and it can be composted.

“Personal Microbial Culture” has disruptive implications for cosmetics brands. The way consumers select skincare products is shifting from reliance on experts at department-store counters and toward individualized routines and YouTube tips, hinting at a demand for a more bespoke, high-touch experience. Integrating synthetic biology into the production of cosmetics could force a brand to understand how it relates to its consumers in a deeper, more literal way.

“Packaging That Creates Its Contents” helps us think about what the world would be like if packaging never created waste. Hotwiring what scientists are already doing with bacteria—responding to light, in this case—completely changes the current model. By conceptualizing biodegradable, lightweight containers built from living materials that reanimate only when filled with liquid, we provoke more design exploration of synthetic biology’s potential and many applications.

We’re inspired by the potential for collaboration between designers and scientists. The intersection of the two fields allows us to apply the scientific world to the things we see every day, and ask questions with the power to transform industries.

Both of the paradigm-shifting packaging and synthetic biology concepts we designed for have a closed-loop element, providing a view into how the ways we produce and consume could change entirely. Developing a closer relationship with biology allows us to begin to imagine a future with no waste. Understanding how to program living organisms points to a new frontier of coding—beyond software, into materiality.