Sang Yup Lee is Dean and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). He is also a pioneering leader in metabolic engineering, a technology used to redesign bacteria so that they produce valuable compounds such as biofuels or medicines. As chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biotechnology he is a strong advocate for greater research to improve biotechnological applications and the need for public dialogue to map the associated risks and solutions.