Hi ,

Last chance to save $1,000 on your Early Bird Conference Pass for SynBioBeta 2024: The Global Synthetic Biology Conference! Act now, as the price goes up this Friday. Join us in San Jose, California, from May 6-9, 2024. Bringing 4 or more?  Contact info@synbiobeta.com for a discount. 

SynBioBeta is hiring a director of marketing and I’d love your help in spreading the word about it!

Craig Venter recently released a new book, The Voyage of Sorcerer II: The Expedition That Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean’s Microbiome, co-authored with David Ewing Duncan, which describes Venter’s two decades of work scouring the world’s oceans for microbes from a 100-foot sailboat. The book presents the oceanic evidence that human activity is altering the fabric of life on a microscopic scale. “Humans are feeding the invisible world of ocean microbes a punishing diet of pollutants, boosting the impact of climate change and hastening the destruction of life as we know it,” David Ewing Duncan sums up.

Craig Venter receiving a life time achievement award at SynBioBeta this year.

Insights:

• Precision Cell Programming in the Quest to Cure Rare Diseases. Using bit.bio’s opti-ox neurons, startup Everlum Bio is on the cusp of treating some of the rarest genetic diseases.

Mark Kotter, CEO of bit.bio.

• Phages and Synthetic Biology Team Up to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance. Engineered phages offer several promising approaches to treating antimicrobial-resistant infections, yet manufacturing them is tricky.

• Breaking Tradition: Could Synthetic Biology Shape the Future of Winemaking? The wine industry is well known for its strong heritage, but climate change and evolving tastes might just coax in a new era of synbio wine.

  
  

Industry News:

• DNA Goes Full Throttle: The Smallest Engine You've Never Seen. An international team of scientists has unveiled a revolutionary nano engine constructed from DNA. This miniature marvel, driven by an ingenious mechanism, can perform pulsating movements, offering a glimpse into the future of complex nanomachinery.

• Using Probiotics to Guide CAR-T Cells Along the Tumultuous Terrain of Solid Tumors. Researchers at Columbia University have choreographed a dazzling two-step performance aimed at taming the unruly beast known as solid tumors.

• AI Alchemy: Unleashing a Biotechnological Renaissance in Textile Dyeing. Colorifix and Basecamp Research harmonize biotechnology and biodiversity, innovating a transformative dyeing process for textiles that echoes nature’s brilliance.

Other news:

• DNA art reproduces photos in high resolution and 16 million colors. Scientists have developed a way to “paint” with DNA, creating 16 million colors to produce digital images with 24-bit color depth accurately. (New Atlas)

• Debut Set to Revolutionize the Fragrance Industry with Proprietary Advanced Biomanufacturing, Closes More Than $40 Million in Additional Series B Funding. (Press release)

• Fermbox Bio Enters into a Strategic JV with BBGI to Establish a First-of-its-kind Collaborative Synbio Plant in Thailand and SEA with an Initial Investment of Over $13 Million. (Press release)

• Report Launch: The Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and the Life Sciences. Join NTI | bio for the launch of the new report, “The Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and the Life Sciences: Safeguarding Technology, Rethinking Governance, and Preventing Catastrophe.”

• Concentric by Ginkgo Partners with Penn State University on Zoonotic Disease Biosurveillance Research Supported by USDA Grant (Press release)

Regards,

John

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John Cumbers

CEO, SynBioBeta

Who's hiring?

• Analytical Scientist at Industrial Microbes (Alameda, CA)

• Marketing Director at SynBioBeta (Global)
  

• Research Associate, Molecular Biology & Strain Improvement at Checkerspot (Alameda, CA)

• Bioprocess Scientist at Peptobiotics (Singapore)