Andrew David Endy was born in 1970. He is a synthetic biologist and a tenured associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University in California.

Education

Endy earned his PhD from Dartmouth College in 1997 for his work on genetic engineering using T7 phage.

Career

Endy worked as a junior fellow for three years and later became an Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2002 to 2008. In 2008, he moved to Stanford University, where he is now an Associate Professor of Bioengineering.

At MIT, Endy collaborated with Thomas Knight, Gerald Jay Sussman, Randy Rettberg, and others on synthetic biology, focusing on creating standardized biological components, devices, and parts known as BioBricks. He helped start the Registry of Standard Biological Parts and developed a system for organizing genetic systems.

Endy supported open-source biology, which allows scientists to share biological tools freely. He helped create the Biobricks Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes open-source biology. He also co-founded Codon Devices, a biotechnology company that aimed to use synthetic biology for commercial purposes, though the company no longer exists.

In 2008, Esquire magazine listed Endy as one of the most influential people of the twenty-first century. In 2009, Michael Specter described Endy as "synthetic biology’s most compelling evangelist" in his book Denialism, noting Endy’s efforts to discuss both the benefits and risks of synthetic biology.

In 2013, Endy led a team that created a biological version of a transistor, called a "transcriptor." This invention completed the three parts needed to build a biocomputer: storing data, transmitting information, and performing basic logic.

Endy is a founder and member of the steering group for the Build-a-Cell Initiative, an international project studying how to create synthetic living cells.

In February 2025, Endy gave testimony to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.