Bio-informed techniques are spreading into the design of every part of our daily lives, including materials, textiles, medicines, foods, processes and everyday products. Today’s designer must become fluent and engaged with this critical new domain that includes a range of transdisciplinary approaches, from bioengineering and biotechnology, to biomimicry, biofabrication and biodesign. In this Studio, teams of students will explore this new area from a social and critical context, and develop a biologically informed intervention as part of the The Biodesign Challenge competition (http://biodesignchallenge.org/). Participating students will have a groundbreaking opportunity to learn about biodesign and apply it to their own practice, while being exposed to many perspectives and approaches. They will also learn how designers collaborate with researchers and practitioners from the scientific community. Teams will push the limits of current industries and provoke new ways to design for the future. We will examine and discuss issues from genetic privacy to modified foods, to understand the fears and debates about the future of biotechnology, and to inform future designers to work with biotech thoughtfully and ethically. Winning teams will be chosen and the winners will go on to showcase their work and present their projects in front of key museum curators, scientists, professional designers, and companies at The Biodesign Challenge Summit in June 2019. Other participating universities include CMU, Penn, NYU, Rensselaer Polytechnic, FIT, SAIC, SVA, MICA, and SciArc. No prior experience in biodesign is necessary, but, taking PSDS 5722 Biodesign Challenge Lab (CRN 7476) and PSDS 5721 Biodesign Challenge Seminar (CRN 7475) along with the studio is recommended.