Christina Agapakis

Biological designer

In her art and scientific work, Christina Agapakis blurs the boundaries between nature and technology to practice a new kind of engineering, taking into account both human and cultural forces.

Why you should listen

In the lab, Christina Agapakis has worked on enzymes involved in the production of biofuels and mapped the evolution of microbial communities in the soil. As an artist, she's isolated halophilic bacteria from California's Salton Sea and made cheese from bacteria living on human skin.

As creative director of the biotech firm Ginkgo Bioworks, Agapakis works to establish more open, equitable and renewable technologies.

Christina Agapakis’ TED talk

10:58

Christina Agapakis

What happens when biology becomes technology?

Posted Jul 2020

More news and ideas from Christina Agapakis

Live from TED2020

WHAAAAAT?: Notes from Session 4 of TED2020

June 12, 2020

For Session 4 of TED2020, experts in biohacking, synthetic biology, psychology and beyond explored topics ranging from discovering the relationship between the spinal cord and asparagus to using tools of science to answer critical questions about racial bias. Below, a recap of the night’s talks and performances. Andrew Pelling, biomedical researcher Big idea: Could we […]