Engineering biology: The next industrial revolution

The UK Government’s National Vision for Engineering Biology recognises this shift, describing engineering biology as a transformative capability with applications across health, agriculture and food, chemicals and materials, and low-carbon fuels.

Collectively, these applications are expected to unlock trillions of dollars in global economic impact per year within the next two decades. 

In the latest episode of CPI’s People in Innovation podcast, ​“Engineering Biology: The Next Industrial Revolution”, Steve Bagshaw, Chair of High Value Manufacturing Catapult, is joined by Clare Trippett from CPI and Professor Aline Miller from The University of Manchester to explore what it will take for the UK to seize this moment and avoid watching the opportunity scale elsewhere. 

What do we mean by engineering biology?

Engineering biology applies design, build, test and learn principles to biological systems, creating new ways to develop products and processes across health, materials, food and fuels. 

That can include: 

• Designing microbes as ​“cell factories” to produce drugs, speciality chemicals or novel materials. 

• Creating more sustainable routes to fuels, plastics, dyes and fibres that currently depend on fossil feedstocks. 

• Developing new vaccines, gene therapies and diagnostics that are more targeted, more effective and faster to develop. 

As CPI’s explainer on what engineering biology is and how it can help create a more sustainable future sets out, this is not about a single narrow technology. It is about a toolbox that can be applied across various sectors, including health, agrifood, and advanced materials, to tackle complex challenges while reducing environmental impact. 

A once-in-a-generation opportunity if we can scale

The economic and societal potential of engineering biology is now well documented. The National Vision for Engineering Biology highlights how biological applications across health, agriculture, food, chemicals, materials and low-carbon fuels could deliver significant global impact, while also improving resilience and national security. 

Recent government reports, such as the ​“Unlocking the power of engineering biology” and ​“Engineering Biology Aspirations” go further. Using case studies such as lab-grown blood, microbial ​“metal factories”, sustainable fashion materials and bio-synthetic fuels, the reports delineate how engineering biology could help transform key systems in the coming decade. 

At the same time, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee report, ​“Don’t fail to scale: seizing the opportunity of engineering biology”, is clear that the UK faces a familiar risk: world-class science that scales somewhere else. The report warns that unless we address challenges in infrastructure, investment, skills and regulation, the economic and industrial benefits of UK-developed science may again be captured overseas. 

The podcast sits right at the intersection of these two narratives: the scale of the opportunity and the urgency of acting on it. 

Inside the conversation: from pilots to production

From breakthrough to bioeconomy

One of the core threads in the discussion is the shift from individual projects to a broader bioeconomy. In this emerging bioeconomy, biological routes to making things, from therapeutics to textiles, sit alongside and increasingly replace fossil-based processes. 

The conversation echoes the National Vision’s framing of engineering biology as a cross-cutting capability that underpins new growth in: 

• Health and life sciences, including advanced therapies, vaccines and next-generation diagnostics. 

• Agriculture and food, from nitrogen-fixing cereals to alternatives to broad-spectrum pesticides. 

• Chemicals and materials, including bio-based polymers, fibres and ingredients. 

• Low-carbon fuels, where engineered microbes can convert waste into high-value fuels and chemicals. 

Rather than treating these as separate silos, the episode examines how common platforms, such as high-throughput strain engineering, automated labs, and scale-up facilities, can serve multiple sectors and create a shared capability for the UK. 

The scale-up gap

A recurring theme is the challenge of scaling from lab and pilot to commercial manufacturing. This is exactly the problem highlighted in ​“Don’t fail to scale”, which finds that while the UK has strong pilot-scale infrastructure, companies often struggle to access it at the right cost and speed, and face even greater barriers when moving to full manufacturing. 

The podcast explores questions such as: 

• How do we de-risk scale-up so that investors remain confident through long development timelines? 

• What role should open-access centres and Catapults play in providing shared infrastructure? 

• How do we make sure UK companies do not feel forced to move overseas for scale-up and manufacturing? 

These issues align closely with CPI’s perspective on accelerating innovation using engineering biology, which calls for better funding models for existing infrastructure, stronger domestic investment and clearer routes from pilot to production. 

Regulation, responsibility and public trust 

Another focus is on how to enable responsible innovation at pace. Guests discuss the importance of regulation that is: 

• Proportionate and predictable, so innovators know what ​“good” looks like early in development. 

• Co-created with scientists and industry, to keep pace with fast-moving tools such as AI-enabled design and advanced gene editing. 

• Rooted in public dialogue, building trust by focusing on real-world benefits and addressing legitimate concerns transparently. 

This emphasis reflects both the National Vision for Engineering Biology and wider government work on engineering biology governance. The focus is on strong standards, biosecurity and active public engagement, rather than simply adding more rules. 

Skills, talent and ecosystems 

Finally, the episode looks at the human side of the bioeconomy: 

• The need for more people with bioprocessing, fermentation and biomanufacturing skills. 

• Interdisciplinary training that blends biology, engineering, data and automation. 

• Stronger regional ecosystems where universities, scale-up centres and industry can collaborate closely. 

This mirrors the Lords Committee’s call for expanded doctoral and technical training routes, as well as policies that help attract and retain highly skilled people in the UK. 

Where CPI fits in

The UK’s engineering biology ecosystem is broad. It spans universities, start-ups, established industry, regulators, funders and innovation centres. Within that landscape, CPI plays a specific role as a scale-up and translation partner. 

The National Vision for Engineering Biology highlights CPI’s role in strain and bioprocess development, modelling and simulation, process engineering design and downstream processing, supported by pilot and demo-scale facilities. CPI works across multiple scales, from early development through to facilities that can operate at industrially relevant volumes. 

Our work in engineering biology spans: 

• Advanced medicines and vaccines. 

• Novel and sustainable materials. 

• Alternative proteins and novel foods. 

• Bio-based chemicals and fuels. 

If you would like more background before diving into the podcast, you can explore: 

• What is engineering biology and how will it help create a more sustainable future?

• How CPI is using engineering biology to help the UK tackle global challenges

• Accelerating innovation using engineering biology

Together, these pieces outline how the UK’s investment in engineering biology, Catapult centres, and national facilities is already helping innovators transition from early proof-of-concept to scalable, commercially viable processes. 

Listen to the full conversation

Engineering biology sits at the heart of the UK’s ambitions for a more sustainable, resilient and competitive economy. Turning that vision into reality depends on what happens next: how we invest, how we regulate, how we build skills and how we support companies to scale here in the UK.

This episode of People in Innovation brings those questions to life through the perspectives of The High Value Manufacturing Catapult, a leading university and CPI’s own experts.