In this talk Dr. Wallace explains the ways in which synthetic biologic will help us tackle climate change. Dr. Stephen Wallace is an Associate Professor of Biotechnology and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. He received a DPhil in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oxford and is a designer of microorganisms with a drive to create new biotechnologies that can enable the manufacture of chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics from sustainable materials as opposed to fossil fuels. Research from his lab has achieved the bio-production of nylon precursors from plant biomass and paper waste, and the production of vanilla flavouring from plastic waste. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx