Q1 Shatters Previous Synthetic Biology Investment Record - Signals Projected 2021 Investment of up to $34 Billion

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This week, we bring you a special report on synthetic biology investment in Q1 2021, Synthetic Biology Clubhouse breaking news, the latest Biopharma Conference speakers, and a look at the first at-home testing kit for parents to determine their child’s risk of disease—before they are born:

Join us TODAY at 8 am PST for the Synthetic Biology Breaking News conversation on Clubhouse. Speakers include:
Nicole Richards, CEO of Allonnia, the latest spinoff company from Ginkgo Bioworks‘ Ferment Consortium, who will be talking about their recent $20 million investment to advance waste remediation with biology.
Jesse Dill, Director of Growth at Ginkgo Bioworks, will be speaking about their recent partnership with Corteva to develop sustainable crop protection solutions, addressing food insecurity and growing pest resistance challenges.
Kamil Tamiola, CEO of Peptone, will be discussing the protein therapeutics market and their collaborations to scale their AI-driven protein engineering system.
Alexander Murer, CEO of Kilobaser, will be discussing their partnership with Meiwafosis to distribute the benchtop DNA synthesizer in Japan.

2021 is shaping up to be a record year for synthetic biology investment. The first quarter of 2021 has nearly quadrupled the previous Q1 record set in 2020 and is more than ten-fold higher than Q1 investments from only four years ago. If current funding rates hold for this year, investments into the synthetic biology sector are expected to top 2020 funding levels by more than 100 to 300 percent.

Many of the 2020 investment trends driven by the COVID-19 pandemic continued this quarter. But Q1 also saw new trends emerge in synthetic biology food companies and the energy sector. Click here to download SynBioBeta’s full report.

John Cumbers, George Church, and Eric Schmidt at SynBioBeta.

A team of researchers has grown meat cells with a platform made of decellularized spinach, an advance that may accelerate the development of cultured meat.
A number of start-up companies, like MeliBio, are looking to use fermentation to produce vegan products, such as honey and milk, that are identical biologically to the real thing.
Scientists have determined the “recipes” for two Covid-19 vaccines using leftovers in vials bound for the trash and published the mRNA sequences on Github.
Scientists have received FDA approval to launch a clinical trial of a CRISPR gene correction therapy in patients with sickle cell disease using the patient’s own blood-forming stem cells.
An MIT team has created polymers that replicate the structure of mucins, the molecules that give mucus its unique antimicrobial properties.
A microscopic, living robot that can heal and power itself has been created out of frog skin cells.