Christina Agapakis PhD

Christina Agapakis is a biologist, writer, and artist known for her experiments exploring the future of biotechnology. She is a creative director at Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology company that specializes in prototyping, designing, and licensing bioengineered microbes to a variety of industries. Since opening its automated “organism engineering foundry” in 2015, Ginkgo has licensed about two dozen custom-made microbes to companies such as the fragrance house Robertet and the food and pharmaceuticals manufacturer Ajinomoto.

Agapakis holds a PhD from Harvard University, where she worked on producing hydrogen fuel in bacteria, creating customizable plants, and making photosynthetic animals. She has taught designers at the ArtCenter College of Design and biomolecular engineers at UCLA, and she once made cheese using bacteria from people’s armpits, toes, and noses.