Synberc: Building the Future with Biology

Synberc (Synthetic Biology Research Consortium) was established in 2006 with a ten-year National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant. Over those 10 years, the consortium grew to host 47 industry members as well as helping to facilitate scientific and policy research, education and diversity programs from institutions including UC Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, UCSF, Stanford, and more. As an attendee of several of Synberc's bi-annual retreats, I was familiar with their work. Synberc asked myself and Rachel Bernstein (whom I had also worked with on the BioBuilder book) to work with them to create a publication commemorating the important work that had been achieved. They also asked me to develop branding for the new non-profit that stemmed out of Synberc, EBRC (Engineering Biology Research Consortium).