Hi ,

We hope this finds you all healthy and happy as we head into 2022.

As mentioned in last week’s Digest, we at SynBioBeta are pleased to announce that we are rebranding ourselves as Built With Biology. Our goals in doing so are three-fold:

To better serve as thought leaders for the biotech industry, i.e., the people, companies, and organizations all using biology to make the planet a better place.
To launch a full-fledged 365 services offering by which we might better assist biotech companies who need to grow awareness for their product/service, meet industry press and thought leaders, build more robust business pipelines, secure investment, and/or acquire talent.
To expand our reach outside the bounds of traditional biotech, creating greater awareness at the consumer level for how you, our partners, are all using biology to better feed, fuel, and heal the world.

As an important step in this rebranding exercise, we are pleased to launch the new Built With Biology website. We encourage you to visit, as we’re excited to provide more in-depth coverage for you… the people and companies launching game-changing solutions that are Built With Biology.

Thank you for reading, and as always, don’t hesitate to contact us with ideas on how we might better serve you going forward.

Larry

Larry Upton

Editor in Chief

larry.upton@synbiobeta.com

Built With Biology: Insights

Don’t be a Dictionary

It’s bedtime. Cuddled up under the covers with your favorite stuffed animal, you’re waiting for a story where heroes can be cheered on, monsters can be defeated, and caterpillars can eat all the cake they want. And then, your parents put their finger on the page and begin to read:

"/stôᐧrē/, noun, an account of real or imaginary people and events told for entertainment."

You look at them in disbelief. They’re reading a dictionary.

It sounds like a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon, Calvin’s Dad tucking them into bed and reading definitions with relish while Calvin fumes. And yet, we keep reading dictionaries to a world desperate for narratives. Over and over again, with GMOs, with "synthetic biology", with vaccines, we ask people to learn words they don’t know, for a conversation they don’t want to have.

Science jargon is precise terminology designed to bring clarity to the fuzzy boundary at the edge of our collective knowledge. You can think of it as linguistic laboratory equipment: specific language with specific meaning that serves a specific function. And like laboratory equipment, jargon performs best in the lab. Removed from that context, jargon is inconvenient, unnecessary, and requires endless definition.

That’s why we are changing our name to Built With Biology. As SynBioBeta, we united a new field, around new science, bringing scientists and entrepreneurs together to found an entire industry. We have established ourselves as a technical powerhouse. To become a driving force for the future, we need to leave the jargon behind.

Built With Biology is the essence of what we do. It places biology alongside chemistry and physics as an essential applied science, and it speaks to the way we value natural systems as worthy of respect and investment. Using biology, our community is fighting to protect a fragile world, engineering abundance and hope amid substantial challenges. There are heroes to be cheered on, monsters to be defeated, and microbes that really love sugar.

Telling these stories takes practice. Built With Biology is here to help. We want to know about who you are, the work you do, and most importantly, why it matters. To tell that story well, feel free to contact us via info@builtwithbiology.com. We’ll work with you to reveal your narrative, the one that welcomes people in, invites them to join the conversation, and connects them to a future they may not have been able to imagine before.

Welcome to Built With Biology. We’re excited to tell your story.

Spotlight on: Natech Plastics

Bioengineering is transforming how we measure and monitor our health. But new tests often require new tools and technologies, from advanced microfluidic chips to measure small amounts of blood, to novel packaging, advanced electronics, and even lateral flow tests for COVID-19. So, what does it take for a medical device prototype to get out of the lab and into the clinic? Meet Natech Plastics, a contract manufacturer dedicated to making sure potentially life-changing—and lifesaving! —products don’t get stuck on the shelf. With expertise in custom injection molding, filling, sealing, product design, and scale-up production for novel products, learn how Natech is helping companies realize the promise of better tools for human health!

Spotlight on: Provectus Algae

Did you know that there are nearly 1,000,000 different species of algae? And did you know that (in the right conditions), algae mostly need sunlight, water, and CO2 to grow? When properly cultivated, algae produce extremely valuable organic components. Microalgae biomanufacturing can yield specialty ingredients useful in a wide array of industries, applications, and consumer goods like foods, therapeutics, and agricultural products! Provectus Algae utilizes microalgae to replace synthetic materials in many of today’s products. Provectus taps into microalgaes’ ~billion-year experience to produce some of the world’s most coveted ingredients. By leveraging genetic engineering, machine learning, automation, and bioinformatics, Provectus quickly and sustainably scales production of ingredients used by manufacturers world-over.

Spotlight on: Hudson Robotics

Iterating and scaling bio-based solutions quickly is one of the biggest challenges in the bioeconomy. After all, we have a planet to save! Automation is already playing a critical role in advancing novel medicines, proteins, and materials. But the process of adopting and building automation platforms can seem daunting. Meet Hudson Robotics, a company that has specialized in automation for 38 years—that’s longer than the field of synthetic biology has existed! The company is dedicated to customizing life science companies’ automation needs for every step of their growth. Learn more about how Hudson Robotics is creating outside-of-the-box hardware and software solutions to help the bioeconomy accelerate.

Over half of all seafood in the US is aquacultured. Aquaculture, farming of aquatic animals and plants, can help satiate the world's growing appetite for seafood while also protecting fragile ocean ecosystems from overfishing. But, shortages of feed ingredients like fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO) create supply chain issues that threaten the future of the industry. FMFO depletion can also result in marine wildlife collapse for animals that depend on forage fish for sustenance. Learn how synthetic biology is playing an increasingly critical role in the future of seafood, and can address shortages with new supply. Using synbio and conventional tools, opportunities are emerging in algae, single cell proteins, and land crops that are yielding new ingredients for feed and seafood that are crucial for maintaining the availability of ⅕ of global protein.

Ginkgo Bioworks adopts Inscripta’s Onyx digital genome engineering platform to continue accelerating its genome editing throughput

Ginkgo reported that the Onyx platform demonstrated an order of magnitude increase in the throughput of certain genome editing capabilities for S. cerevisiae and E. coli.

Keep Reading »

Absci announces research collaboration with Merck

Sean McClain, founder and CEO of Absci, commented, "We look forward to applying our AI-driven platform to create new biologic candidates with the potential to meaningfully improve the lives of patients."

Keep Reading »

Optimvia and Ginkgo Bioworks announce partnership to manufacture biosynthetic heparin

The goal of producing biosynthetic heparin is similar to Genentech’s famous breakthrough of creating insulin through recombinant cell-based methods as opposed to relying on extraction from pig pancreas.

Keep Reading »

Inscripta® appoints Kristala Prather, PhD to its Board of Directors

Dr. Prather’s research interests are centered on the design and assembly of recombinant microorganisms for the production of small molecules, with additional focus in novel bioprocess design approaches.

Keep Reading »

MORE TO EXPLORE

Twist Bioscience’s comprehensive DNA synthesis capabilities expanded as industry-leading enzymatic synthesis process unveiled at annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference

Keep Reading »

Meet the latest amazing startups to complete the IndieBio NY program

Keep Reading »

When researchers don’t have the proteins they need, they can get AI to ‘hallucinate’ new structures

Keep Reading »

Revivicor's genetically modified pig heart is first successfully transplanted in human patient

Keep Reading »

The future of biotech in an artificially intelligent world

Keep Reading »

Bayer and Mammoth Biosciences to collaborate on novel gene editing technology

Keep Reading »

Codex DNA signs agreement with Pfizer to further develop enzymatic DNA synthesis technology for development of mRNA-based vaccines and biotherapies

Keep Reading »

Selecta Biosciences and Ginkgo Bioworks announce new collaboration to develop next-generation gene therapy capsids

Keep Reading »

Berkeley Lights and Aanika Biosciences announce partnership to improve food safety by commercializing antimicrobial peptides through proprietary high-throughput, functional screening service

Keep Reading »

Pfizer and Beam enter exclusive multi-target research collaboration to advance novel in vivo base editing programs for a range of rare diseases

Keep Reading »

We've Got More »

WHO'S HIRING?

Senior Scientist/Staff Scientist, Mammalian Cell Biology, Inscripta, Pleasanton, CA or Boulder, CO

Senior Bioinformatics Data Scientist II/ Staff Bioinformatics Data Scientist, Inscripta, Remote U.S.

Software Quality Assurance Engineer, Inscripta, Pleasanton, CA or Boulder, CO

Staff Systems Engineer/ Senior Staff Systems Engineer, Inscripta, Pleasanton, CA or Boulder, CO

Scientist II, Automated Strain Engineering, IFF, Palo Alto, CA

Access The Job Board »

Like our Digest? Please feel free to share with friends, family, and co-workers!

SynBioBeta, LLC
3559 Mount Diablo Boulevard #2, Lafayette, CA 94549

info@synbiobeta.com

If you no longer wish to receive our emails, you can unsubscribe here.
Modify Your Email Preferences