Hi ,

This week we are highlighting some cutting-edge synbio technologies that will make you rethink protein production, therapeutics delivery, and treatment of crops. As synthetic biology expands into "non-model" organisms, there are a ton of exciting applications coming out each week. Stay on top of innovation by subscribing to the SynBioBeta digest and join us live on May 23-25 at the Global Synthetic Biology Conference!

• Thinking Outside The Tank: Why This Startup Thinks Fruit Flies Will Solve Synbio’s Scale-Up Problem. Recombinant proteins are the cornerstone of cultivated meat, biotherapeutics, and vaccines — but scaled production remains a challenge. Future Fields has the answer. Learn how they’re turning fruit flies into bioreactors.

Future Fields co-founders Jalene Anderson-Baron and Matt Anderson-Baron.

• Aera Therapeutics launches with $193 million in financing to enable and advance the next generation of transformative genetic medicines across a wide range of modalities and therapeutic areas. Aera’s delivery platform is based on research conducted in the lab of the world-renowned scientist Feng Zhang, a core member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Feng Zhang. Source: STAT

• Paul Berg, Nobel-Winning pioneer of genetic engineering, is dead at 96. Paul Berg’s 1971 breakthrough in genetics led to vaccines and disease treatments, ushering in the era of genetic engineering. It also won him the Nobel Prize.

• Ginkgo Bioworks announced a partnership with Zymtronix, a developer of cell-free process technologies, for the production of ingredients in food, agriculture, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Ginkgo also announced that they’re partnering with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) on a one-year pathogen monitoring program at Rwanda’s Kigali International Airport (KGL) to identify new and emerging viral variants.

• For the first time, bioengineered trees have been planted in a U.S. forest: Living Carbon, the company hopes its seedlings can help manage climate change.

• This week I joined my good friends Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan for an episode of the "Grow Everything" podcast. We talk about engineering bacteria for cleaning teeth, the possibilities of distributed science and synthetic biology, and much more. Listen here. 

• What's Your Synthetic Biology Strategy? Our friends at BCG have a new article about why every company should have a biostrategy.

Fiona Mischel, Director of International Outreach at SynBioBeta, spoke to the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee about the global impact of synbio and the tremendous opportunity it presents for the UK. Read more.

New SynBioBeta 2023 speakers announced:

• Anil Narasimha co-founded Mekonos in hopes of making delivery of molecules more efficient, precise, and automated.

• Orr Yarkoni is the CEO of Colorifix which is developing a revolutionary dyeing process to help the textile industry dramatically reduce its environmental impact.

• Matt Hill is CEO and founder of Elegen, a company committed to bringing agile development to biology and delivering high-fidelity DNA with industry-leading length, speed, and accuracy.

• Christina Smolke founded Antheia to transform pharmaceutical supply chains by leveraging synthetic biology for a more efficient and sustainable rapid-response model for drug manufacturing.

New SynBioBeta 2023 Sponsors & Exhibitors:

• Cultured Supply is an online platform that offers B2B group purchasing for the bioeconomy.

Funding news

• Codagenix announces the close of a $25 million extension of Series B for the clinical development of its intranasal RSV vaccine candidate. The company is developing a virus design platform for live-attenuated viral vaccines and immuno-oncology therapeutics.

• Elo Life Systems unlocks funds to scale production of monk fruit-inspired high-intensity sweetener. After unlocking full access to a $24.5m series A fundraise, North Carolina based food-tech Elo Life Systems is on track to launch its products in 2025.

• Robigo secures $7M seed round to protect crops from untreatable diseases. Robigo is developing a microbial platform technology that leverages bioengineering and data science to protect crops from disease in a way that is safe to beneficial microorganisms, pollinators, humans, and the environment.

Other news

• Food tech leaders come together to form the precision fermentation alliance to champion a more resilient and sustainable future. Change Foods, The EVERY Co., Helaina, Imagindairy, Motif FoodWorks, New Culture, Onego Bio, Perfect Day, and Remilk are founding members of the Precision Fermentation Alliance.
• LanzaTech and Tadweer to explore collaboration on conversion of waste to alternative fuels: The potential project aims to identify the optimum transformation for multiple solid waste streams to clean fuel or clean energy.
• Small innovators advance microbes as alternatives to chemical crop sprays: As farmers around the globe embrace microorganisms to treat and protect crops, ag giants sort out how they will participate in the industry, coming to different conclusions.
• Telesis Bio releases BioXp® Select mRNA synthesis kit to expand the utility, speed, and impact of its automated synthetic biology workstation.
• Indee Labs Partners with GenScript to develop direct DNA knock-in kit for large transgene inserts. 

Regards,
John

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John Cumbers
Founder, SynBioBeta

Who's hiring?

• Head of People Operations at EVERY, South San Francisco, CA
• Scientist/Senior Scientist, Microfluidics at Birch Biosciences, Portland, OR
• Scientist/Senior Scientist, Synthetic Biology at Birch Biosciences, Portland, OR
• Senior Customer Program Manager at MicroByre, Berkeley/Oakland Bay Area
• Scientist – Fermentation at Concerto Biosciences, Cambridge, MA
• Senior Sales Manager at SynBioBeta
• Sales Associate at SynBioBeta

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