He is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. He received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Pennsylvania State University, a doctorate in Genetics from Yale University and was a postdoctorate fellow under Jack Szostak at Harvard University. He has published in the area of protocells, complex systems, evolution and the origin of life in various journals including JACS and Science. He is developing novel synthetic chemical systems based on the properties of living systems. These synthetic systems are termed ‘protocells’ as they are model systems of primitive living cells and chemical examples of ‘artificial’ life.