Hi ,
We hope this finds you well and enjoying the first vestiges of spring weather (here in the USA).
Setting aside the business of biology (for just a moment), let’s be frank in stating these are uncertain times in which we’re living. Russia is waging war on Ukraine, energy prices just hit a 12-year high, and the global economy is only now recovering from massive supply chain issues.
This being said, we at Built With Biology remain confident and hopeful based on what we believe are some notable absolutes:
Biology and the solutions developed therefrom have the capacity to rapidly improve how we feed, fuel, and heal the world.
The SynBio industry has shown itself highly resilient and capable of change; witness the speed with which mRNA vaccines were brought to market over the past two years.
We, the companies for which we work, and the organizations to which we are committed possess an almost unboundless capacity for good… assuming we work together to enact change.
It’s on this basis of hope that we encourage you, as our readers, to join us and our game-changing partners for our live in-person April conference (Oakland, CA)... as we celebrate you, the people
and companies using biology to make the planet a better place.
Thank you for reading and please, don’t hesitate to contact us with questions or suggestions on how we at Built With Biology can better serve you over the coming weeks.
Larry
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Larry Upton
Editor in Chief
larry.upton@builtwithbiology.com
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Only six weeks away… sign up now!
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Built With Biology Insights |
Limitless
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The laws of physics do a decent job of governing reality. We’re used to gravity pulling projectiles back to earth, and understand that the more friction there is, the less energy is directed towards the goal we have in mind. Very often we draw parallels between the rules of the physical world and the rules of our mental world - where energy comes from, what sustains it, and how we understand it to impact other dynamics.
If there’s one law of biology, it’s to expect the unexpected. And yet, our community seems to be caught by surprise every other week. We haven’t yet begun to fully integrate this understanding into our broader understanding of the
world.
Most recently is this delightful writeup from Science, titled "So Proteins Do That?". "That," in this case, is a reallocation of electrons from one atom (the oxidizing agent), to another (the reducing agent), in what the authors are calling a redox linkage. We’re familiar with redox reactions in industrial settings, where they enable electroplating with gold, silver, or chrome. It might be
less well known in biology, but without the constant oxidation and reduction of small molecules to maintain the flow of electrons in cells, cellular respiration and photosynthesis can grind to a halt.
The article notes that the first evidence for this approach came from careful examination of crystal structures. It’s a challenging task for a number of reasons - because it involves three atoms at different potential states, because the structures that form can look very different from one another, and because this phenomenon lies outside the standard framework for analyzing protein formation and function. But with more potential combinations of amino acids than there are stars in the universe, why shouldn’t redox reactions play a role in the way proteins mediate cell operations?
Kudos to these researchers for following the data in front of them to a conclusion that they didn’t anticipate. This is the exciting work of science, the work that
reinforces how we’re just at the beginning of building with biology. We are gaining new insights about the biological world every day, opening the door to new tools, new problem solving approaches, and new products every day.
At Built with Biology we’re excited by the reality that there is more to discover than we could possibly imagine. This mindset inspires our community to dive deeper into the way life works, building better solutions for a more abundant future. We’re here to tell that story of discovery with you.
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Join us online on International Women's Day to launch the world's first Women in Synthetic Biology global network! All genders are welcome as we celebrate the achievements of women and underrepresented genders in the bioeconomy. Register here.
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Built with Biology is teaming up with the Imperial College synthetic biology community to explore academic and entrepreneurial opportunities in the growing global bioeconomy. Learn from a panel of experts about how biology is transforming science, society and the translational career opportunities that are available to Imperial students, postdocs, fellows and researchers! Please register via this Qualtrics Link: IPFEN Synbio event.
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Spotlight on: EnginZyme |
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The chemicals industry has three big problems: it uses too much energy, produces too much waste, and doesn’t play well with bio-based materials. Meet EnginZyme, a Swedish synthetic biology
company solving all these problems with nature’s most effective catalysts, enzymes! Traditionally, the chemicals industry uses heavy metals catalysts to convert an initial feedstock into a final product. But these catalysts need very high temperatures and produce huge amounts of waste. EnginZyme’s catalysts function at near-room temperatures, are designed to eliminate waste, and of course, they work perfectly with sustainable feedstocks like sugar and vegetable oil. Learn more about how EnginZyme’s catalysts fit neatly into existing pipelines to transform the chemicals industry one enzyme at a time!
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Spotlight on: Parse Biosciences |
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Every cell in the body holds a unique library of information. These libraries can reveal what cells are affected by a disease, if a treatment is working, or even how neurons are behaving in the brain. But isolating each cell for analysis is time-consuming and expensive. Meet Parse Biosciences, a Seattle-based company making single-cell sequencing available and affordable for all! Rather than isolate each cell in individual microfluidics compartments, the company keeps all the cells together and "barcodes" each one with unique combinations of DNA tags. "Scan" the barcodes—get the data! Learn more about how Parse Biosciences is helping us understand diseases, develop cell therapies, and even advance cultured meat!
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Biomason raises $65 million Series C to accelerate biocement® technology |
North Carolina-based biotechnology company Biomason secures new financing, taking next step in revolutionizing the cement industry through biotechnology.
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Serotiny and Tessera Therapeutics enter into collaboration to engineer and optimize programmable Gene Writer proteins |
The collaboration will utilize the Serotiny platform to engineer, analyze, score, and screen Multi-Domain Protein libraries aiming to identify and optimize Tessera’s novel programmable Gene Writer proteins
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Phytolon and Ginkgo Bioworks collaborate to take biological production of vibrant food colors to the next level |
Phytolon is leveraging Ginkgo's ability to engineer biology at scale to work together on the production of vibrant betalain pigments, the healthy and colorful compounds found in foods like beets and cactus fruit.
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This new milk alternative uses a ‘cow-free’ dairy protein |
The brand, Betterland, is the first milk to come to market, which uses Perfect Day’s animal-free dairy protein—whey that’s identical to the protein in cow’s milk but made with the use of fungi in bioreactors, not animals.
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Evonetix demonstrates novel enzymatic DNA synthesis method
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A-Alpha Bio and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory collaborate to accelerate therapeutic antibody discovery against emerging COVID-19 variants
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Carbon-negative production of acetone and isopropanol by gas fermentation at industrial pilot scale
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Aanika Biosciences first biotech company to receive Bermuda Monetary Authority’s approval for reinsurance innovation hub
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In this session, industry leaders discussed how synthetic biology is playing an increasingly critical role in the future of seafood.
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Gene therapy turns to the use of synthetic biology principles
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Editas shares boosted as patent office rules in favor of Broad's CRISPR patents, but the fight will continue
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Scientists engineered bacteria to eat carbon dioxide and spit out clean chemicals
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IGI launches "Women in Enterprising Science Program" to foster genomic entrepreneurs
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Stämm Biotech raises $17M for its next-generation, 3D printed bioreactor
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