Christina Agapakis

Christina Agapakis.

Courtesy of Christina Agapakis.

Christina Agapakis and Sissel Tolaas, “Selfmade.”

Courtesy of Christina Agapakis.

Christina Agapakis, “Bioreactors at Ginkgo Bioworks.”

Courtesy of Christina Agapakis.

Christina Agapakis, “Fungi collected from fermented foods.”

Courtesy of Christina Agapakis.

Christina Agapakis is a biologist, artist, writer and creative director at Ginkgo Bioworks, an organism design company that is bringing biology to industrial engineering. She explores the aesthetics of biotechnology and has made cheese from the artist Olafur Eliasson’s tears.

Ginkgo Bioworks grows cultured products for partners across many industries. Agapakisi’s work brings together biologists, engineers, designers, artists and social scientists to explore the future of biotechnology. During her PhD at Harvard, she worked on producing hydrogen fuel in bacteria and making photosynthetic animals. She has taught designers at the Art Center College of Design and biomolecular engineers at UCLA.