"I think if we pull it off, itchangeseverything to do with our interaction with the living world, " says Drew Endy , a young MIT professor who is one of the company's co-founders.
It does everything from breeding new seeds and cattle, to creating ultra-thin edible wrapping paper for foodstuffs that changes colour when the food goes off, to running a nanotechnology laboratory creating biodegradable ultra-strong fabrics and wound dressings.