E (Enrique) Asin Garcia, PhD

Doing the best I can at creating value, beauty and utility out of our understanding of nature.

I am a biotechnologist and Assistant Professor of Biomanufacturing at Wageningen University & Research. My research explores how we can engineer microorganisms not only to manufacture things, but also to sense, respond and adapt; bringing biology closer to the intelligent systems we are used to building with machines.
My group works on living biosensors, reprogrammed cell factories and the technologies needed to make them useful beyond the laboratory. That means combining synthetic biology and bioprocess engineering with sensors, hardware, data and automation, while taking biosafety and safe-and-sustainable-by-design seriously from the beginning.

I am particularly interested in integration: between biology and engineering, between experiments and real-world deployment, and between disciplines and people who do not always speak the same scientific language. I believe some of the most interesting problems in biotechnology now sit precisely at those interfaces.
Alongside research, I teach, supervise and write about biotechnology and its future. I enjoy building research directions and teams, mentoring young scientists, and creating the collaborations needed to turn ambitious biological ideas into technologies that can actually be used.

Researcher | Teacher | Engineer of biology | Writer | Mentor | Team leader | Perpetual mentee