John Marken is a Resnick Sustainability Institute Postdoctoral Scholar in the Division of Biology and Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology. His research aims to develop theoretical and experimental foundations for translating synthetic biology advances from the laboratory to the deployment environment, with a focus on the interplay between microbial physiology and genetic circuit performance. He previously received his PhD in Bioengineering from Caltech, supervised by Richard Murray, and his BS in Applied Mathematics from the College of William and Mary. Marken was a co-organizer of the Feb 2024 workshop on 'Pathways Towards the Safe and Effective Deployment of Engineered Microbial Technologies' hosted by the Caltech Center for Science, Society, and Public Policy. This workshop brought together representatives from industry, science, and regulatory agencies to discuss the challenges facing the regulation of engineered microbial products intended for environmental release.

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