SYNMAC (CSIC Hub in Engineering Synthetic Biological Matter) is a multidisciplinary strategic initiative in research, advanced training, and innovation - recently funded by CSIC under the 2025 CONEXIONES-CSIC - that brings together almost 200 researchers from 29 CSIC institutes and 28 partner organizations to address a fundamental challenge: understanding and programming biological matter across different scales and levels of organization (molecular, cellular, and multicellular).

The core concept underpinning SYNMAC is programmability: the ability to design molecular and cellular systems that self-organize, process information, and function in coordination. SYNMAC’s goal is to understand how engineered matter can acquire life-like properties and to translate this knowledge into transformative technologies.

The network is organized around four major pillars: bottom-up construction of synthetic biological systems, top-down reprogramming of living organisms, computational approaches to biological matter, and the study of its societal dimensions. Through this vision, SYNMAC aims to drive advances in synthetic cells, sustainable bioproduction, programmable therapeutics, and novel adaptive materials with applications in health, energy, and sustainability.

Ultimately, SYNMAC seeks to position the CSIC and beyond (i.e., the Spanish synthetic & engineering biology / matter-to-life ecosystems) at the forefront of this research challenge, in which nature itself becomes our next technological platform.