The Code of Life: Designing Future Impressions | Dr. Anu Raghunathan | TEDxPune

Can we program cells like we program apps? In this jaw-dropping talk, scientist Anu Raghunathan reveals how our DNA is no longer a sacred scroll—it’s a script we could rewrite. From curing brain cancer to engineering fuel-producing microbes, she shows how synthetic biology is turning "what ifs" into real-world edits—one gene, one cell, one bold idea at a time. Dr. Anu Raghunathan is Chief Scientist at CSIR–National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India where she leads the Metabolic Inquiry and Cellular Engineering (MICE) group. Her research on metabolic engineering, synthetic and systems biology integrates experimental and computational techniques to understand cancer drug resistance, rationally design microbial cell factories, and develop genome-scale models for metabolism. She played a key role in India’s COVID-19 genome surveillance including detecting the first Omicron variant in Pune. Dr. Raghunathan is Associate Editor for international journals, founding member of the Bioengineering Society of India, a columnist for The Indian Express, and recipient of the 2022 FICCI FLO Award (Pune Chapter) for Women Achievers in Science & Technology. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx