Tag: biotech

DNA bricks

A research team team used their “DNA–brick self–assembly” method, which was first unveiled in a 2012 Science publication when they created more than 100 3D complex nanostructures about the size of viruses. The newly–achieved periodic crystal structures are more than 1000x larger than those discrete DNA brick structures, sizing up closer to a speck of dust, which is actually quite large in the world of DNA nanotechnology.

Bioeconomy Capital

I am pleased to announce the launch of Bioeconomy Capital. Our investments so far are:

Riffyn, which is building software that provides experimental process design and analytics software to improve reproducibility and tech transfer in life science and materials R&D;
Synthace, which is increasing the reliability, quality, and scale of biological science;
RoosterBio, which is is creating exponential advances in stem cell manufacturing to provide raw materials for cell-based therapies, biofabrication, and cellular ink for 3D BioPrinting.

Opentrons

Automating pipetting is a big deal.

Today, biologists spend too much time pipetting by hand. We think biologists should have robots to do pipetting for them. People doing science should be free of tedious benchwork and repetitive stress injuries. They should be able to spend their time designing experiments and analyzing data.

That’s why we started Opentrons.

We make robots for biologists. Our mission is to provide the scientific community with a common platform to easily share protocols and reproduce each other’s results. Our robots automate experiments that would otherwise be done by hand, allowing our community to spend more time pursuing answers to some of the 21st century’s most important questions.

Tricorder

I’m not one for future shock, but this place triggers it increasingly more frequently. we’re somewhere between SL2 and SL3, depending on domain.

Sometimes moonshots come in small packages — small enough to float in the bloodstream and send out alerts when danger is afoot. That was Andrew Conrad’s vision when he came to Google X after a storied medical research career. Now he is revealing details of that vision — and reporting that experiments are well under way in realizing it.

Synthetic Genomics

there’s VC hyperbole, and then there’s VC hyperbole. if you do web 2.0 hyperbole, you sound like a spazz, if you do this:

This is the most important company founded in the 21st century. You are creating new ontologies of life. There has been nothing as important since prokaryotic cells

you’re giving us hope.

Brewing drugs

given enough DNA manipulation, you can get yeast to do nearly anything. rob carlson has pointed out the connection from homebrewing to diy biotech for years.

anyone with access to the yeast strain and basic skills in fermentation would be able to grow morphine-producing yeast using a home-brew kit. Because yeast is easy to conceal, grow and transport, criminal syndicates and law-enforcement agencies would have difficulty controlling the distribution of an opiate-producing yeast strain

the craft medicine marketing exists already

Pfizer Releases Vintage Cask-Aged Robitussin. The new up-market blend has a sophisticated flavor profile of cherry, codeine, pseudoephedrine, and hints of citrus.

Growing carbon fiber

it seems indeed silly to create carbon fiber from petroleum if you can do it directly from trees.

we might be growing many strains of poplars. we might modify the molecular weight of the lignin. polymer scientists would work with geneticists and plant breeders to target the right combination of genes.