The BioDesign Co-Major teaches students how to collaborate with living organisms from across the more-than-human world to create novel materials, objects, and approaches to living and working together on this beautiful but challenged planet.

The design, fabrication, and collaboration skills that students develop in the core curriculum of the Design and Innovation Major and other coursework at MICA find new applications and opportunities to grow in a biodesign practice. Students learn from living organisms that have evolved capabilities to assemble simple molecules into complex patterned materials that grow into responsive functional forms, using minimal energy, non-toxic chemistry, and little to no waste. Courses introduce new approaches to making from, like, with, and for other living beings.

In MICA’s state-of-the-art BioDesign Lab, students learn the tools and techniques of biotechnology that expand the scope and possibilities of a contemporary art and design practice. The curriculum explores a broad range of theoretical perspectives that help each student establish their own approach to BioDesign, and courses centered on Creative Experiential Learning help students determine career paths where they can most meaningfully contribute to this emerging transdisciplinary field.