Michael Liss, Sr. Manager R&D, received his PhD in 2000 from Universities of Regensburg & Boulder gaining expertise in virology, molecular biology and directed evolution. 2000-2002: Postdoctoral Researcher in Biosensoring with aptamers. 2002-2012: Scientist in R&D at GeneArt GmbH. 2012-2014: Manager R&D at Life Technologies, since 2014: Sr. Manager R&D at Thermo Fisher Scientific. During his work in synthetic biology and gene synthesis Michael has setup and managed the directed evolution unit for more than five years. He further advanced the progress of economic and reliable gene synthesis and installed the gene-to-protein service. Today, he is responsible for R&D projects including process development, portfolio accretion and novel applications of synthetic biology.