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A brighter future… built with biology
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Editor’s Note: Leading the Future Is Never Easy
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Last night, Zymergen, one of the first biology unicorns, announced that they would not generate revenues through 2022 and that their CEO was stepping down. Zymergen’s stock promptly fell 70% in after-hours trading. But I am not writing this to single out Zymergen. There are larger questions that I think we need to ask ourselves as an industry:
We are in a race to save the planet. After a decade of toiling out of the public eye, we have emerged onto the world stage. But have we gotten ahead of ourselves in the process?
Our entire industry is built partnering with nature in our effort to make a better world. But catching up
to her genius when she has a 4 billion-year head start is going to take a significant time and money. But it’s a partnership that we absolutely must make for the sake of future generations.
It’s a challenge to live in a quarterly system, where we need to show profits every three months rather than thinking about this as generational change. Today may feel like a hard day, it certainly feels that way to me. But, I have hope for the future because this community is made of people working their hardest day in and day out to make our world a better place.
We all know we have made missteps in the past. Biofuels, it turns out, were not the planet-savior we thought they were. I encourage this community to take this day as an opportunity to embrace the long game. There is no doubt in my mind that changing the world with biology is our best path forward.
This is a call for transparency, accountability, and a recognition that we shouldn't hype what we want to have until we have achieved it. At the end of the day, the people who need our help the most are the average citizen. We cannot serve them and our planet if we tell the world we can run before we can walk. Because our world needs us to run.
-Fiona Mischel
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SynBioBeta 2021 Will Be a Field Trip to the Future!
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We want to take you on a Field Trip to the Future where we see hope and a healthier, more sustainable world! Join us for a brighter tomorrow in October—see the full event here!
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Listen: Built with Biology SpacesJoin us today for the Built with Biology show on Twitter Spaces at 8 am PT! Spaces is an audio-only
platform—all you need is a Twitter handle and the Twitter app on your phone.- Today’s show welcomes Solugen co-founders Gaurab Chakrabarti, CEO, and Sean Hunt, CTO!
Missed an episode? Click here to listen to all our episodes.
Spotlight: How Spiber is Spinning Proteins Into Spider Silk
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This is a call to action: SynBioBeta stands behind this bill and the good it can do for our communities and our planet. Join us
and call your US senators and congressional representatives today! Click here for the info you need to act.
You can also get your company to send a simple message to every trade association it belongs to with the following goal:
- Advocate for a price on carbon, like the EICDA, to be in the Reconciliation package
- Send a message as a trade association to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with the same message
We hope you join us in this call to action to use all the tools available to us to address our climate crisis!
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Have a great week, Regards,
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Fiona Mischel Editor in Chief, SynBioBeta
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