- Community Biotechnology
David Sun Kong, Ph.D. is a synthetic biologist, bio designer, community organizer, musician, and photographer based in Lexington, MA. He is the Director of the MIT Media Lab's Community Biotechnology Initiative. His research explores the multidisciplinary domains of synthetic biology, biological design and art, collective intelligence and movement building, and STEAM learning.
Dr. Kong is a technical leader in synthetic biology, having pioneered the development of novel “lab-on-a-chip” and “organ-on-a-chip” technologies. He conducted his graduate studies at MIT’s Media Lab, receiving a Master's degree for developing technology for printing nanostructures with energetic beams and a Ph.D. for demonstrating the first gene synthesis in a microfluidic (“lab-on-a-chip”) system. As a postdoctoral associate he developed ‘nose-on-a-chip’ technology using microfluidic-based synthesis of olfactory receptors, and later, while Technical Staff in the Bioengineering Systems & Technologies group at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, was Principal Investigator for a multi-institute program fabricating ‘Artificial Guts’ for prototyping microbial communities. He is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Metafluidics, an open repository for fluidic systems.
Dr. Kong is a leader in the grassroots Community Biology movement and is the founder of the Bio Summit, a gathering that convenes the global network of independent, community-led biology labs, that has included thousands of participants from over a hundred countries. He is also co-founder of "How To Grow (Almost) Anything,” an international course on synthetic biology and biodesign based at MIT and Harvard, alongside Professor George Church. He is also a co-creator of the ‘Supermind Design Methodology’ with Professor Thomas Malone, Director of the MIT Center of Collective Intelligence, and instructs the “Ancient Future Technology” course at MIT. He was recognized as an emerging leader in synthetic biology as a "LEAP" fellow and has served as a guest faculty member at the Marine Biology Lab in Woods Hole, MA.
He is also the founder and Board President of EMW Community Space, an art, technology and community center in Cambridge MA and is a long-time organizer in the Asian American arts community. David’s work has been covered via outlets such as the Science, Showtime, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, NPR Boston, Gizmodo, STAT News, Chronicle, and WBZ News. He has delivered keynote addresses for the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, NASA, and Google.
He has performed as a DJ, beat-boxer, vocalist, and rapper at hundreds of venues, including South by Southwest, the Crypto Center in Los Angeles, Burning Man, and Brooklyn Bowl, where he opened for Tonight Show band-leader and hip hop legend Questlove. He has shared the stage with grammy-winning and grammy-nominated artists such as Diplo, Bonobo, and Tokimonsta. He teamed up with hip hop icon DJ Jazzy Jeff to make ‘Biota Beats’ from the human microbiome. His research and photography have been exhibited at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian and in other museums and galleries around the world. He is also an award-winning vocal arranger and producer. His photography has been exhibited at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian, the Japanese American National Museum, and other museums and galleries across the country.
Dr. Kong's full list of publications, talks, and experiences are linked.