Andrew (Drew) David Endy (born 1970) is a synthetic biologist and tenured associate professor of bioengineering at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, California.

Education and Work History

Endy received his PhD from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

in 1997 for his work on

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...

using

T7 phage Bacteriophage T7 (or the T7 phage) is a bacteriophage, a virus that infects bacteria. It infects most strains of ''Escherichia coli'' and relies on these hosts to propagate. Bacteriophage T7 has a lytic life cycle, meaning that it destroys th ...

. Endy was a junior fellow for 3 years and later an Assistant Professor of

Biological Engineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, from 2002-2008. In 2008, Endy moved to

, where he currently serves as an Associate Professor of

Bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...

Research

With Thomas Knight,

Gerald Jay Sussman Gerald Jay Sussman (born February 8, 1947) is the Panasonic Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received his S.B. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematics from MIT in 1968 and 1973 respectively. ...

, Randy Rettberg, and others at MIT, Endy worked on

synthetic biology Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary area of research that seeks to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature. It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad ran ...

and the

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

of standardized biological components, devices, and parts, collectively known as

BioBrick BioBrick parts are DNA sequences which conform to a restriction-enzyme assembly standard. These building blocks are used to design and assemble larger synthetic biological circuits from individual parts and combinations of parts with defined funct ...

s.From the cells up
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 10 March 2005 Endy is one of several founders of the

Registry of Standard Biological Parts The Registry of Standard Biological Parts is a collection of genetic parts that are used in the assembly of systems and devices in synthetic biology. The registry was founded in 2003 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The registry, as of ...

, and invented an abstraction hierarchy for integrated genetic systems. Endy has been one of the early promoters of

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

biology, and helped start the Biobricks Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that will work to support open-source biology. He was also a co-founder of the now defunct Codon Devices, a

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

startup company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

that aimed to commercialize synthetic biology. In 2009,

Michael Specter Michael Specter (born 1955) is an American journalist who has been a staff writer, focusing on science and technology, and global public health at ''The New Yorker'' since September 1998. He has also written for ''The Washington Post'' and ''The ...

called Endy "synthetic biology’s most compelling evangelist" in his book ''Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives'', as Endy is persistent in discussing both the prospects and dangers of synthetic biology. Endy headed a team of researchers that in March 2013 created the biological equivalent of a

transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...

, which they dubbed a "

transcriptor A transcriptor is a transistor-like device composed of DNA and RNA rather than a semiconducting material such as silicon. Prior to its invention in 2013, the transcriptor was considered an important component to build biological computers. B ...

". The invention was the final of the three components necessary to build a fully functional biocomputer:

data storage Data storage is the recording (storing) of information (data) in a storage medium. Handwriting, phonographic recording, magnetic tape, and optical discs are all examples of storage media. Biological molecules such as RNA and DNA are conside ...

, information transmission, and a basic system of logic. Endy is a founder and steering group member of the Build-a-Cell Initiative, an international collaboration investigating creation of synthetic live cells.

References

External links

Lab webpage

Personal page on OpenWetWare for Drew Endy

Abstraction hierarchy for integrated genetic systems

Steal This Genome

Biology Yearns to be Free

Gen9

on the commercialization of DNA synthesis
Registry of Standard Biological Parts

with Drew Endy in Edge - the third culture
Northwestern Silverstein Lecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Endy, Drew 1970 births Living people Synthetic biologists MIT School of Engineering faculty American bioengineers Stanford University School of Engineering faculty