Synthetic biology combines engineering principles with a fundamental biological understanding of living systems to assemble organisms and biochemical pathways for innovative purposes. These include purposefully designed and improved proteins, microbes, plants, and animals. Synthetic biology spans many applications including medical, environmental, agricultural and industrial. It holds great potential to solve global challenges, and create social and economic benefits. Indeed, synthetic biology is predicted to enable an Australian based industry sector worth up to $30 billion per year by 2040. Many RSB research groups contribute to this synthetic biology challenge by innovating at the individual protein level to working with industry partners to redesign novel biological production workflows.