Biologically Inspired Engineering, synbio, synthetic biology, crispr
An image on the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s History Wall in its Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters memorializes the agency’s first grants. NSF’s very first grant, for $10,300, was in the biological sciences and went to the Institute for Cancer Research. In writing his prescription in 1945 for a new agency devoted to the progress of science, … Read more
Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI) is a private company based in La Jolla, California that develops genomic-driven solutions to address global energy and environmental challenges. The company started synthesizing and programing DNA in 2005, long before CRISPR technology greatly improved gene editing techniques. In some ways, the company’s activities appear to be like a sandpit for … Read more
Last month, Adaptive Biotechnologies Corp. (Nasdaq: ADPT) launched ImmuneCODE with Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) to begin sharing one of the largest, most detailed views of the immune response to COVID-19 in real time based on de-identified data generated from thousands of COVID-19 blood samples from patients around the globe. The open database contains detailed information … Read more
Genetic sequence data for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), has played a critical role in the public health response, including in the design of diagnostics and vaccines. Within the Department of Defense, SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data plays a vital role in force health protection efforts. … Read more
Inovio Pharmaceuticals filed suit against VGXI, a subsidiary of South Korea’s GeneOne Life Sciences, last month, accusing it of not transferring technical details pertaining to manufacturing doses of INO-4800, Inovio’s DNA vaccine compound with promising results against SARS-CoV-2. Inovio details in the lawsuit that VGXI does not possess the capacity to scale up manufacturing, which is essential … Read more
The Pershing Square Foundation recently announced that it has awarded $3 million to nineteen recipients at ten academic research institutions in furtherance of conducting research related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As scientists across various disciplines around the world have risen to the challenge of combating SARS-CoV-2, The Pershing Square Foundation (the “Foundation”) worked with its … Read more
In 2017, the National Science Foundation (NSF) unveiled a set of “Big Ideas,” 10 bold, long-term research and process ideas that identify areas for future investment at the frontiers of science and engineering. Synthetic biology, or “Understanding the Rules of Life,” is one of the NSF’s big ideas. The ability to design and manufacture synthetic … Read more
The McKinsey Global Institute has published a tome, “The Bio Revolution” that attempts to quantify the risks and opportunities for synthetic biology. Here is the document’s glossary: Allele. Any of the alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus.Bioinformatics. A hybrid science between computer science, biology, and statistics that involves the … Read more
Global food security is a big concept for a small company. To achieve its lofty goals, Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. is focused on developing new technologies to achieve step-change improvements in crop yields. The company has an extensive track record of innovation based around optimizing the flow of carbon in living systems, and it is leveraging … Read more
The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has outlined in “The Bio Revolution” the current state of innovation in agriculture, aquaculture, and food. According to MGI, humans have been growing crops and raising animals for thousands of years using a evolving set of tools and techniques. Since the dawn of agriculture, humans have used tools like selective … Read more