Hi ,

SynBioBeta 2023: The Global Synthetic Biology Conference is just over four weeks away! We look forward to bringing together experts from around the world to discuss the latest advancements and innovations in synthetic biology.

• Beyond The Trophies: Craig Venter Has Mixed Feelings On DNA Day Celebrations. It's been 20 years since the human genome was sequenced, but Craig Venter is still not on board with the participation trophy. I connected with Craig recently—ahead of the SynBioBeta Conference, where he will be present for a fireside chat alongside Martine Rothblatt, founder of United Therapeutics.

J. Craig Venter, PhD, is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his numerous invaluable contributions to genomic research.

• Synthetic Biology Is Set To Explode, But Only Once This Huge Bottleneck Is Gone: Writing DNA is still a huge bottleneck for many startups in synthetic biology. I caught up with Matt Hill, CEO of Elegen Bio, who will be speaking at SynBioBeta this May. He says Elegen has the elixir to solve this crucial bottleneck, with super accurate 7000 base pair DNA that can be made in just a week. And they can go even bigger than that.

Matt Hill, CEO of Elegen Bio.

• The iOS Of Synthetic Biology Is Here. And Thanks To This Incubator, The Apps Are Rolling In. Is the iOS for synthetic biology here? Jason Kakoyiannis of Ferment certainly thinks so. And the company creation studio is rattling off new companies like apps on the Apple store.

Ferment partners Jason Kakoyiannis, Brian Brazeau, and Jess Leber. Credit: Johnson Photography, Inc.

• BioMADE Announces Five Projects to Catalyze the U.S. Bioeconomy: With a commitment of $10.5M in funding, these projects will work across engineering, hardware development, and scalability to eliminate the barriers preventing the acceleration of a robust bioeconomy.

• Discover the Future of Biotech: bio xyz Demo Day. Join this exciting online event on April 27, delving into the world of a biotech DAO accelerator that is changing the industry by empowering biotech builders, researchers, and patient communities. And don't miss the DeSci tracks at SynBioBeta! 

• Visolis and Ginkgo Bioworks Announce Partnership to Improve Microbial Strain for Bio-Isoprene and Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production.

• Cultivarium Announces Collaboration with ATCC to Expand Repertoire of Microbes Available for the Bioeconomy.

Other news:

• Fast-growing startup with carbon-free solution sets up pilot plant in Houston: Cemvita has set up a pilot plant in its hometown of Houston to develop technology for converting carbon emissions as feedstock to make products like fertilizer, plastics, methane, and fuel.

• Integra Therapeutics presents video: ‘New FiCAT gene writing platform to cure diseases’ On 25 April, to celebrate DNA Day 2023, Integra Therapeutics launched a video explaining the new FiCAT gene writing platform developed by its scientific team.

• Enveda Biosciences Announces Oversubscribed Series B1 Bringing the Total Round to US$119 Million. Enveda is a drug discovery and development company using the latest AI-powered technologies to uncover the ancient cache of medicines present in plants.

• Ayana Bio Launches First Plant Cell-Derived Health and Wellness Ingredients. Lemon balm and echinacea are produced directly from plant cells, bypassing the constraints of agriculture and creating full traceability.

• The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) seeks molecular-scale data storage and archiving information. Responses to this RFI are due by May 26, 2023, 5:00 p.m. EDT.

What a week!

If you’ll be at SynBioBeta next month, then I can’t wait to see you.

Regards,
John

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John Cumbers
Founder, SynBioBeta

Who's hiring?

• Synthetic Biology Strategist and Program Manager at Raytheon Technologies, USA
• Lab Technician / Lab Manager at E11 Bio, Alameda, CA
• Research Systems Engineer at Caltech, Pasadena, CA
• Senior Manager Regulatory Affairs at Antheia, Menlo Park, CA
• Director of Commercial Operations at Antheia, Menlo Park, CA
• UX Software Engineer - Full Stack at MicroByre, Berkeley, CA
• Anthropocene Institute Oceans and F3 Aquaculture Program Coordinator, San Francisco, Bay Area

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