Hi ,

In this episode of the SynBioBeta podcast, I chat with Michael Kamdar, President & CEO and Phil Paik, CTO, both of whom are at Molecular Assemblies—a San Diego-based life sciences company developing an enzymatic DNA synthesis technology designed to power the next generation of DNA-based products. We talked about the competitive DNA synthesis landscape, Molecular Assemblies plans for commercialization, and what Mike and Phil envision for the future of the company and the industry.

• Why Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Is Betting Big On The $1T US Bioeconomy: After over a decade of being at the helm of internet juggernaut, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has switched gears, and one of his latest activities is being an advocate for the fast-growing US bioeconomy, currently valued at over $1T. I caught up with Schmidt again recently, a year since his last SynBioBeta talk, to see what progress has been made. You can see the full Q&A here.

• These 10 Women Investors Are Betting Big On Synthetic Biology Future. Eric Schmidt is not the only one who believes in the synthetic biology future. These ten investors – some of whom will be at the SynBioBeta conference next week – recognize the power of synthetic biology to solve many of today’s challenges and create new industries and markets with multi-billion-dollar potential.

• This Company Is Using Enzymatic DNA Synthesis To Usher In The Next Generation Of Synthetic Biology Innovation. Ansa Biotechnologies is turning DNA synthesis on its head by using an enzymatic method to produce gene-length oligos and finally unlock complex, elegant synthetic biology solutions in human health, agriculture, and so much more.

Ansa Biotechnologies’ CEO Daniel Lin-Arlow.

• Synthetic biology in food & ag: We’re just getting started. Synthetic biology startups in food & nutrition and agriculture attracted $101 million in the first quarter of 2023, a 73.5% decline versus the same period last year, according to a new report from SynBioBeta and tech consultancy Futurity Systems.

What's new at SynBioBeta 2023:

SynBioBeta 2023: The Global Synthetic Biology Conference is just one week away! We look forward to bringing together experts from around the world to discuss the latest advancements and innovations in synthetic biology. 

The Industrial Microbes team aims to accelerate the transition to sustainable materials. After eight years of research and 20 patents, they have developed a biomanufacturing process that turns greenhouse gases (GHGs), starting with methane, into net-zero materials using gas-eating microorganisms. In addition, they have partnered with several chemical manufacturers to decarbonize production without cutting profits. Check out their white paper on the ROI of waste, or contact them for partnerships.

Other news:

• Cradle, the platform that helps scientists to design and program proteins, today published the findings of its first BioDeveloper survey, exploring the methods and priorities of biodevelopers to build a picture of trends within the synthetic biology sector.

• A-Alpha Bio and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory expand collaboration to accelerate antibody discovery and development for biothreats. $2.4M in Department of Defense (DOD) funding to A-Alpha Bio will be used to generate large-scale antibody-antigen binding data for training computational models that accelerate drug discovery against possible biological threats.

• Form Bio announces FORMsightAI, a breakthrough AI solution set for predicting and optimizing cell & gene therapy manufacturability. Form Bio FORMsightAI is a new, AI-based solution set for predicting and optimizing manufacturing outputs of cell and gene therapy constructs. Form Bio FORMsightAI is generally available to cell and gene therapy companies as well as CDMOs.

• NewLimit secures $40 million in venture funding to extend human healthspan.

• New method uses engineered bacteria and AI to sense and record environmental signals. Columbia synthetic biologists are the first to engineer bacterial swarm patterns to visibly record the environment, and use deep learning to decode patterns. Applications could range from monitoring environmental pollution to building living materials.

If you’ll be at SynBioBeta this month, I can’t wait to see you.

Regards,
John

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John Cumbers
Founder, SynBioBeta

Who's hiring?

• Chief Scientific Officer at AMSilk, Munich, Germany
• Senior Scientist, Fermentation at POW.BIO, Berkeley, CA
• Scientist, Fermentation at POW.BIO, Berkeley, CA
• Synthetic Biology Strategist and Program Manager at Raytheon Technologies, Remote
• Lab Technician / Lab Manager at E11 Bio, Alameda, CA
• Research Systems Engineer at Caltech, Pasadena, CA

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