Bioengineering stands poised to transform human health and society in ways that would have seemed unimaginable even one generation ago.

The Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute, grounded in its faculty's trailblazing research, is uniquely positioned to leverage Princeton’s intellectual legacy in the service of this new frontier.

ODBI researchers are developing the tools and technologies that will enable scientists to interface with living matter at every scale. We envision using life's fundamental organizing principles to engineer biomolecules, cells and tissues “from scratch.” Our core approach combines fundamental inquiry with novel technologies — new molecular components, devices and algorithms — in a powerful positive-feedback cycle linking biological structure and information.

Ultimately, we seek to develop engineered systems that can one day pass a kind of biological Turing test. To see this vision through, we must engage the life sciences with the same unrelenting creativity and rigor that has led previous Princetonians to revolutionize the fields of physics, math, economics and computer science.

At ODBI, we are thinkers and tinkerers, scientists and engineers, weaving together discovery and invention. We strive for a culture of innovation in which ideas don't simply sit for observation. A culture that empowers researchers to take risks. Where we tear down, rebuild and hybridize concepts. Where a diversity of identities promotes a diversity of thought, and where the crosstalk spurs the action.

The greatest discoveries in the life sciences are yet to be made. A century from now, scientists looking back will see how little we knew in this moment. Our mission at ODBI is to push that knowledge forward, to transform the life sciences through quantitative reasoning and to develop the bioengineered technologies that will revolutionize the future.

I invite you to explore our work and our future home.

Cliff Brangwynne
Director, Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute