Reshma Shetty

Dr. Reshma Shetty has been active in synthetic biology for 10+ years and co-organized the first international conference in the field: Synthetic Biology 1.0. She’s earned the appreciation of biology and medical researchers everywhere for reengineering E. coli to smell like mint and bananas. In 2008, Forbes magazine named Shetty one of Eight People Inventing the Future and in 2011, Fast Company named her one of 100 Most Creative People in Business. She and her colleagues have founded synthetic biology company Ginkgo Bioworks to make and sell engineered microorganisms – YCombinator’s first biotech company. Ginkgo’s first product line are organisms for the production of cultured ingredients – fragrance, food and cosmetic ingredients made via fermentation. Shetty’s Ph.D., from MIT, is in Biological Engineering.