Biologists long have focused their microscopes and attention on how the natural world works. Artificial life, in turn, uses complex computing techniques to better understand, visualize and even mimic life’s processes. Now comes an approach that combines science and engineering in order to design and construct novel biological parts, devices and biological systems for useful purposes. It’s called synthetic biology, and it will be one of the focuses of discussion at the June 3-7 10th International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems conference, better known as Artificial Life X. More...