In this episode we talk to Prof Jane Calvert and Dr Rob Smith who work in the department of Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, also known as STS. Jane and Rob talk about the Crossing Kingdoms project, which is part of their work in the Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology, but we also cover Jane's work on synthetic yeast, funded by the BBSRC, and Rob's work on gene drives, funded by the British Academy. We chat about the social, political and ethical dimensions of synthetic biology research and discuss the fundamental value of interdisciplinary collaboration.