Andrew David Endy was born in 1970. He is a scientist who studies creating living things and has a permanent teaching position as an associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford University in California.

Education

Endy earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Dartmouth College in 1997 for his research involving genetic engineering with T7 phage.

Career

Endy was 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, Endy moved to Stanford University, where he currently works as an Associate Professor of Bioengineering.

At MIT, Endy collaborated with Thomas Knight, Gerald Jay Sussman, Randy Rettberg, and others on synthetic biology and the design of standardized biological parts, devices, and components known as BioBricks. Endy helped create the Registry of Standard Biological Parts and developed a system to organize genetic systems in a structured way.

Endy supported the idea of open source biology and helped start the Biobricks Foundation, a non-profit group that promotes open-source biology. He was also a co-founder of Codon Devices, a biotechnology company that aimed to use synthetic biology for commercial purposes.

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: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. This was because Endy often discussed both the opportunities 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 necessary parts to build a fully functional biocomputer: data storage, information transmission, and a basic system of 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 live cells.

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