Synthetic biology, symbiosis, engineered ecologies, food microbiology, bioenergy, science and technology studies, biologically inspired engineering, art, and design.
2006-2011
Harvard University
PhD, Biological and Biomedical Sciences
2002-2006
Yale University
BS, Magna Cum Laude, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
Fall 2012-present
Postdoctoral Researcher
Hirsch Lab, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, UCLA
Winter 2012-present
Fellow, UCLA Art|Science Center
Fall 2011-Fall 2012
Postdoctoral Researcher
Liao Lab, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UCLA
Fall 2010
Resident, Synthetic Aesthetics
A project run by the University of Edinburgh and Stanford University bringing together synthetic biologists, designers, artists, and social scientists to explore collaborations between synthetic biology, art and design. Worked with odor artist Sissel Tolaas to explore microbial ecologies of cheese and the human body.
2007-2011
Graduate Researcher
Silver Lab, Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School
Thesis: Biological Design Principles for Synthetic Biology (PDF)
2005-2006
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Crews Lab, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University
Performed pharmacological and biochemical studies of the natural product myriaporone.
2003-2005
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Austin Lab, Department of Chemistry, Yale University
Worked to elucidate the biological function of the Src kinase activation loop.
Summer 2004
Summer Research Intern
Altshuler Lab, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Performed haplotype analysis and single nucleotide polymorphism association studies for genes in the insulin pathway.
Bactricityproject earned a gold medal and won the prize for Best Food or Energy Project.
Kaplan D, Maymon M, Agapakis CM, Lee A, Wang A, Prigge BA, Volkogon M, and Hirsch AM. “A Survey of the Microbial Community in the Rhizosphere of Two Dominant Shrubs of the Negev Desert Highlands, Zygophyllum dumosum Boiss. and Atriplex halimus, Using Cultivation-Dependent and -Independent Methods.” American Journal of Botany. In Press.
Agapakis CM and Tolaas S. "Smelling in Multiple Dimensions." Current Opinion in Chemical Biology (special issue on Aesthetics), 2012, 16(5-6): 569-575.
Boyle PM, Burrill DR, Inniss MC, Agapakis CM, Deardon A, DeWerd JG, Gedeon MA, Quinn JY, Paull ML, Raman AM, Theilmann MR, Wang L, Winn JC, Medvedik O, Schellenberg K, Haynes KA, Viel A, Brenner TJ, Church GM, Shah JV, and Silver PA. "A BioBrick Compatible Strategy for Genetic Modification of Plants." Journal of Biological Engineering, 2012, 6:8.
Agapakis CM, Boyle PM, and Silver PA. "Natural Strategies for the Spatial Optimization of Metabolism in Synthetic Biology." Nature Chemical Biology, 2012, 8(6): 527-535.
Agapakis CM, Niederholtmeyer H, Noche RR, Lieberman TD, Megason SG, Way JC, and Silver PA. Towards a Synthetic Chloroplast.
PLoS ONE, 2011, 6(4): e18877.
Barstow B, Agapakis CM, Boyle PM, Grandl G, Silver PA, and Wintermute EH. "A synthetic system links FeFe-hydrogenases to essential E. coli sulfur metabolism." Journal of Biological Engineering, 2011, 5:7.
Agapakis CM and Silver PA. Modular Electron Transfer Circuits for Synthetic Biology: Insulation of an Engineered Biohydrogen Pathway.
Bioengineered Bugs, 2010, 1:6.
Agapakis CM, Ducat DC, Boyle PM, Wintermute EH, Way JC, and Silver PA. Insulation of a Synthetic Hydrogen Metabolism Circuit in Bacteria.
Journal of Biological Engineering, 2010, 4:3.
*JBE most highly accessed article of 2010
Agapakis CM and Silver PA. Synthetic Biology: Exploring and Exploiting Biological Modularity Through the Design of Novel Biological Networks.
Molecular BioSystems, 2009, 5: 704-13.
Florez JC, Sjögren M, Agapakis CM, Burtt NP, Almgren P, Lindblad U, Berglund G, Tuomi T, Gaudet D, Daly MJ, Ardlie KG, Hirschhorn JN, Altshuler D, Groop L. Association testing of common variants in the insulin receptor substrate-1 gene (1RS1) with type 2 diabetes.
Diabetologia. 2007, 50(6): 1209-17.
Hines J, Roy M, Cheng H, Agapakis CM, Taylor R, Crews CM. Myriaporone ¾ structure- activity relationship studies define a pharmacophore targeting eukaryotic protein synthesis.
Molecular BioSystems. 2006, 2: 371-9.
Florez JC, Wiltshire S, Agapakis CM, Burtt NP, de Bakker PIW, Almgren P, Boström KB, Tuomi T, Gaudet D, Daly MJ, Hirschhorn JN, McCarthy MI, Altshuler D, Groop L. High-density haplotype structure and association testing of the insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) gene with type 2 diabetes in 4,206 people.
Diabetes. 2006, 55(1): 128-35.
Florez JC, Agapakis CM, Burtt NP, Sun M, Almgren P, Rastam L, Tuomi T, Gaudet D, Hudson TJ, Daly MJ, Ardlie KG, Hirschhorn JN, Groop L, Altshuler D. Association Testing of the Protein Tyrosine Phosphatease IB Gene (PTPN1) With Type 2 Diabetes in 7,883 People.
Diabetes. 2005, 54(6): 1884-9.
Videlock EJ, Chung VK, Hall JM, Hines J, Agapakis CM, Austin DJ. Identification of a Molecular Recognition Role for the Activation Loop Phosphotyroside of the Src Tyrosine Kinase.
Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2005, 127(6): 1600-1.
"Extremely Adventurous Human Females: Towards a Feminist Synthetic Biology?" (April 2013) UC FemTechNet Assembly: Feminist Infrastructures and Technocultures.
"Against Nature: Redesigning Biotechnology's Metaphors." (March 2013) Design Dialogs, Art Center College of Design.
"Biological Design in Context." (February 2013) Chemistry and Biology Interface Graduate Colloquium.
"Chemical Romance: Food, Love, and Science." (Valentine's Day 2013) UCLA Art|Sci Center Workshop.
"Cheese Cultures: Art/Science/Ecology." (January 2013) UCLA Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous on Art-Science Collaborations.
"Feast, Famine, and Other Scenarios." (December 2012) Foodprint LA Panel discussion with Allison Carruth, Erik Cutter, and Joseph Wickham.
"Disciplining Synthetic Biology." (September 2012) 1∅ Conference.
"Building with Biology." (June 2012) Tele-lecture for Duke University TIP Futures Institute.
"Sensual Engineering: Taste, Smell, and Biotechnology." (April 2012) Guest Lecture for UCLA Design | Media Arts Honors Seminar: Biotech and Art.
"Designing Living Things." (March 2012) Panel at SXSW Interactive with Patrick Boyle, Jason Kelly, and Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg.
"Microbial Interactions." (January 2012) Guest Lecture for UCLA Design | Media Arts Course 160—Hybrid Worlds: NanoBioTech Plus Art.
"Engineering Biology." (November 2011) Workshop with HackLab, University of Southern California Annenberg Innovation Lab.
"Designing Biologically: Synthetic Biology Devices in Environmental and Social Context." (September 2011) Presentation at Synthetic Biology at the Interface of Science and Policy, University of Ottawa.
"Towards Sufficient Weirdness." (June 2011) Synthetic Biology Slam.
Agapakis CM, Boyle PM. “Knowledge and Learning Used for Good Effect: Evolving Biological Design Principles for Synthetic Biology” (June 2011) Poster presented at Synthetic Biology 5.0.
Tolaas S, Agapakis CM. “BOD_BAC_CHE” (June 2011) Poster presented at Synthetic Biology 5.0. [PDF]
"Imagining, engineering, and evolving synthetic biologies." (May 2011) Lecture at Bio:Fiction Film Festival.
Presenter, "Invitation to Speak: Interdisciplinary Salon." (April 2011) Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Designing Biologically.
(February 2011) Presentation at Gingko BioWorks.
Presenter, Form Follows Evolution, Function, or Fashion? Exploring collaborations between synthetic biology, art and design.
(November 2010) Synthetic Aesthetics Seminar at MIT Media Lab.
Agapakis CM, Boyle PM, and Liu TY. (October 2010) Beyond Agribusiness: New and Old Ways to Grow Food.
Science in the News lecture at the Harvard Medical School and (April 2011) Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy Seminar Series.
Agapakis CM, Niederholtmeyer H, Inniss M, Wintermute EH, Noche R, Super M, Way JC, and Silver PA. (March 2010) Towards a synthetic endosymbiosis.
Poster presented at the Institute for Biological Engineering Annual Conference. [PDF]
Hydrogen Production in Synechococcus elongatus.
(February 2010) Presentation at the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center retreat.
Synthetic Endosymbiosis: Towards a Photosynthetic Astronaut.
(January 2010) Presentation at Harvard Department of Systems Biology Lunch Seminar.
Agapakis CM, Boyle PM, and Budin I. (October, 2009) Origins: Synthesizing Life in the Lab.
Science in the News lecture at the Harvard Medical School.
Agapakis CM, Wintermute EH, Boyle PM, Savage DF, and Silver PA. (October, 2008) Modular Approaches to Engineering the [FeFe] Hydrogenase.
Poster presented at Synthetic Biology 4.0 in Hong Kong. [PDF]
Agapakis CM, Wintermute EH, and Boyle PM. (September, 2008) Fuels of the Future.
Science in the News lecture at the Harvard Medical School.
Oscillator, a blog about synthetic biology and biologically inspired design and engineering in principle and in practice. Active since 2009, member of ScienceBlogs.com 2010-2011, part of Scientific American Blog Network since July 2011.
Bacterial Encounters
(May 2013) Solo Exhibition, UCLA Art|Science Gallery.
"Lactobacillus." (January 2013) The Book of Invisible Life.
"Fun and Games in the Garden." (September 2012) Essay for Arc 1.3: Afterparty Overdrive.
"Synthetic What?" (July 2012) A conversation with Daisy Ginsberg, Patrick Boyle, and Brian David Johnson for the Intel Tomorrow Project.
"Timelines, roadmaps, and tools: navigating the futures of synthetic biology." (July 2012) Perspective for SynBERC Six Parties Symposium Travel Fellowship.
"What's REALLY Living IN, ON & AROUND Your Body." (April 2012) Guest expert on an episode of The Doctors.
"The Prozac Yogurt Effect: How hype can affect the future of science" (March 2012) and "Steak of the Art" (April 2012) Guest posts on The Crux, Discover Magazine Blogs.
"What Will Power the Future". (November 2011), Invasion of the Synthetic Bacteria.
(October 2011), and Climate Change, Synthetic Biology, and Cephalopods.
(February 2011) Diavlogs with Maggie Koerth Baker on Bloggingheads.tv.
Contributor to the handbook for Synthesis: synthetic biology in art and society, (July 2011) The Arts Catalyst.
"Who is the Bioengineer of the Future" (Winner of Online Audience Award) and "Compound 74" (May 2011) selected for Bio:Fiction Science, Art, & Film Festival.
Self Portrait With Lab.
(February 2011) Short film screened at Making Movies/Making Science,
at the MIT Museum Second Fridays Program.
Knowledge is Power.
(January 2011) Selected for publication in The Open Laboratory: The Best in Science Writing on Blogs, 2010 Edition.
Mixed Cultures: art, science, and cheese.
(December 2010) Scientific American Guest Blog.
Dispatches from the future.
(November 2010) Posted on i09.com.
What If Science Were Like Sports?
(June 2010) Guest post on World Science Festival Blog.
My Synthetic Life,
(June 2010) Episode of The Agenda With Steve Paikin, TV Ontario.
Ancestors and Offspring,
(May 2010) Diavlog with John Hawks on Blogginheads.tv.
On Failure.
(November 2009) Finalist in scientificblogging.com Graduate Student Writing Competition.
SoCal STS Retreat Workshop (February 2013)
Participant, Synthetic Biology Leadership Accelerator Program (October 2012)
SciFoo 2012 (August 2012)
UC Science and Technology Studies Student and Postdoc Workshop (June 2012)
SynBERC Postdoc Travel Award, Six Parties Symposium on Synthetic Biology (June 2012)
Peer reviewer for ACS Synthetic Biology, Sensors, IET Systems Biology, Bioengineered Bugs
Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30: Science and Healthcare, 2012
L'Oreal USA Fellowship for Women in Science, 2012
UdK Award for Interdisciplinary Art and Science (with Sissel Tolaas), 2012
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2008-2011
Inducted into ΦΒΚ, Yale Chapter, 2006
Yale-HHMI Future Scientists Fellowship, 2005
Yale College Mellon Undergraduate Research Grant, 2004
Massachusetts Biotechnology Council Scholar, 2002
National Merit Scholarship, 2002
Molecular biology and biochemistry lab techniques
Python scripting, HTML/CSS
Fluent Greek, Reading Spanish
Digital Video Production
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