This year, his company will release a product that has been created by genetically modified yeast that converts sugars to vanillin. It will be the first major synthetic-biology food additive to hit supermarkets.

But the products may carry a different type of hazard: consumer rejection. By creating products designed to be ingested or put on the body, synthetic-biology companies are starting to attract the attention of groups that oppose the use of genetically modified (GM) organisms. But regulations governing the use and labelling of GM organisms do not apply to fermented ingredients, because the organisms used to make them are not present in the final products.

Synthetic biology has lots of benefits: Instead of having to grow crops of vanilla bean for tasty extract, wormwood for anti-malarials, throw yeast with the genes in a vat of sugar and use the land for something else.

On the other hand, you've got all the stigma against "synthetically produced foods":

Already, Friends of the Earth US, an environmental group based in Washington DC, is asking consumers to sign an online petition calling for food companies not to use synthetic-biology-derived vanillin in ice cream.

I am predicting biological-synthesized goods will become more commonplace at a inter/intracompany level, but less optimistic about company-consumer interactions, given the massive push-back (Some of it justified) against GMOs.