Japan is a global powerhouse for life sciences research. The level of academic research in the country is impressive. Two Nobel Prize winners in the past five years have come from Japan — Yoshinori Ohsumi in 2016...
Author - Embriette Hyde
Why you should look to Tokyo for the cell-free amplification of large, genome-scale DNA
DNA is the backbone of synthetic biology. Whether you’re making high-value proteins de novo through fermentation or working on solutions for reading and writing data in DNA — or anything in between — you...
Riffyn hits a home run in 2019
A good blueprint is the backbone for all successful design implementations, whether a 40-story building or legal proceedings for homicide cases. Science is no different — and no, I’m not talking about DNA, perhaps...
Triple green threat: Why cannabinoids are synbio’s next big market
The first year I could vote, in the early 2000’s, medical marijuana was on the Michigan ballot. I voted yes, even though I didn’t know nearly as much as I do now as a PhD-trained research scientist. I was aware even...
A two-for-one punch: how Mango Materials turns waste methane into biodegradable materials
With today’s social and political climate, it can be hard to believe that irresponsible dumping of plastics and polymer-based materials still happens on a daily basis. Even the most environmentally conscious may be...
How delicious: Beyond Meat up 163% on first day of trading
The humble pea was quite disruptive for Hans Christian Andersen’s sleepy princess, and this week it proved to be quite the disruptor yet again: the pea protein-based meat alternative company Beyond Meat closed its first...
You can have the Green New Deal and your hamburger, too
Some critics of the Green New Deal claim that the far-left wants to take away your hamburger — but Silicon Valley startups may already have the win-win solution. Could cellular agriculture be the Green New Deal’s...
The best kept secret in drug discovery has a Twist
The importance of protein engineering for a variety of applications, from food ingredients to health care, is no secret. Using synthetic biology tools, we can create increasingly precise and elegant enzymes optimized...
Decoding the immune system: Cogen ImmuneMedicines’ CEO Jose-Carlos Gutiérrez on changing the paradigm of antigen-based therapies
In an age where we take pills for nearly everything — from minor headaches to life-threatening infections — it can be hard to believe that within our bodies lie the “cures” for the maladies that afflict us...
A modern-day David-and-Goliath: How Lygos CEO Eric Steen is tackling the petrochemical industry
It’s not often that a single chemical can be a focal point across industries as disparate as flavors and fragrances, electronics, polymers, and specialty solvents. Yet malonic acid, with applications in automobile...
