Cycles of diversification and selection bypass what we do not yet understand: a single experiment can sample over a billion designs and return the few that work. We work on all of it — the theory, the technology, and the applications — to make a design–build–test–learn cycle that actually turns over in weeks rather than years.

Polymerases and ligases are among the most fundamental tools in molecular biology and among the hardest enzymes to engineer. Despite decades of study, their dynamics and specificity still make them notoriously difficult to redesign.

Nucleic acids, natural or synthetic, can fold into specific three-dimensional structures, giving rise to functional ligands (aptamers) and in vivo regulatory elements such as riboswitches and terminators.