This book covers the emerging discipline of synthetic biology, a field that's forcing us to reconsider our relationship to the natural living world. In a future where technicians can write genomes from scratch and print them at will, there’s a critical need for a textbook that makes the systematic engineering approach to biology transparent. Based on the BioBuilder curriculum, developed at MIT in collaboration with award-winning high school teachers, this textbook provides open-access, modular, hands-on lessons in synthetic biology for secondary and post-secondary classrooms and laboratories. Further content is available through in-person teacher training programs around the US. Ideal for the hundreds of BioBuilder teachers using this curriculum around the country, as well as the growing audience of educators in biotech clubs and informal education settings, BioBuilder is written for students as well, with text and illustrations they’ll find relevant. Today's synthetic biologists are in the early stages of engineering living cells to help treat diseases, sense toxic compounds in the environment, and produce valuable drugs. With this manual, you can be part of it.