Hi ,

This week, I attended the iGEM Grand Jamboree in Paris and met some awesome people doing amazing work. Here are some that stood out to me (see images below, starting at top left and ending at bottom right): A team from Fudan University who created two children's books explaining synthetic biology; the iGEM McGill team, who won the Undergrad Grand Prize (congratulations!); Me with the Makerere-Uganda iGEM team, whom I supported through their crowdfunding campaign, and finally, China had a significant presence at this year's Jamboree and some really cool start-ups including SynMetaBio, which makes mycelium-based leather, and Link Spider, which makes spider silk. Congrats to all the teams on their submissions and hard work!

In other news, bit.bio, a company coding human cells for novel cures, announced its cell therapy pipeline and declared it the lead cell therapy candidate as it prepares to enter clinical development in 2025. The company also announced three key additions to its Scientific Advisory Board. You’ll be able to meet bit.bio at SynBioBeta 2024 next May.

Interstellar Lab, a biofarming startup, joined L’Oréal's Green Sciences Incubator program to explore the use of BioPod to source sustainable ingredients for cosmetics. You’ll also be able to see Interstellar Lab's BioPod at SynBioBeta in May!

Interstellar Lab's BioPod. Source: Tech.eu

Insights:

• Is DNA Data Storage Ready for Data Centers? Researchers and startups are tackling bottlenecks in scalable DNA data storage.

• Are American Pharmas Falling Behind on AI?Even as large language models, such as ChatGPT, augment our daily lives, another kind of revolution is taking place across human health. There will be a whole track on AI and digital biology run by Shelby Newsad at SynBioBeta next year.

• 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.

Industry News:

• Light-Powered Organoids Illuminate Nervous System Development. Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center have innovatively combined spatial transcriptomics with optogenetics to manipulate gene expression in organoids using light, potentially revolutionizing precision therapies and medical research.

• 'Clickable' Pseudoviruses Shine a Light on Virus Dynamics. Using genetic code expansion and click chemistry, this new technique allows fluorescent labeling and visualization of pseudoviruses without disrupting their activity.

• New Dimension in Bacterial Gene Regulation Could Be Boon for Synthetic Biology. Researchers have identified a unique sigma factor, SigI, that operates outside the known classifications, suggesting a new paradigm in genetic regulation.

Other news:

• Ginkgo Bioworks and XWELL Implement Expanded CDC Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance Program to Test for More than 30 Known Pathogens (Press release)

• MicroByre and the ETSURC announce the expansion of their partnership after a successful initial project to develop sustainable recycling solutions (Press release)

• Synlogic Achieves Research Milestone and Earns $2.5 Million Milestone Payment from Roche Collaboration. (Press release)

• Engineered ‘living materials’ could help clean up water pollution one day. A team of materials scientists is working on an engineered “living material” that may be able to transform chemical dye pollutants from the textile industry into harmless substances. (The Conversation)

• Looking for microbial fermentation capacity? Use Capacitor to find a biomanufacturing facility that meets your needs.

• Building Better with Biology: New £500,000 Themed Competition. Do you have an innovation that could solve various defense and security challenges and enhance capability by applying engineering biology approaches?

• Designing Synthetic Cells Beyond the Bounds of Evolution (Designer Cells): The goal of this solicitation is to support research that leverages basic research in cell design to build novel synthetic cell-like systems and cells for innovative biotechnology applications. 

Regards,

John

---

John Cumbers

CEO, SynBioBeta

Who's hiring?

• Project Lead (Big PCR) at Elegen (San Carlos, CA)

• Production Supervisor - Plasmids and Long DNA at Elegen (San Carlos, CA)

• Production Supervisor - ENFINIA DNA at Elegen (San Carlos, CA)

• Operations Director at Sampling Human (Berkeley, CA)

• Analytical Scientist at Industrial Microbes (Alameda, CA)

• Marketing Director at SynBioBeta (Global)