Biopunk (by Sofia Sanchez)

CEO of the-odin.com, mad pirate king of biotech. Josiah Zayner is a leader in the biohacking movement. He has experience in modifying his gut microbiome, genetically modifying himself with CRISPR, creating a coronavirus vaccine, and culturing cells... all DIY and @ home!

What you can learn from this episode

How and why he started a biotech startup

Why and how he started his biotech startup

Why medicine continues to be primitive

Outcomes of creating a coronavirus vaccine at home

Follow Josiah on Twitter @4LOVofScience

Aaryan is the founder of LightIR, a system to detect cancer during surgery. He is only 15 years old and he is an activator at The Knowledge Society.

In this episode:

• How LightIR works


• Product development


• Patents for your inventions


• Being interested vs being committed to something

Follow the podcast @2045Podcast on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Aaryan @AaryanHarshith on Twitter too!

Worship growth in the biological sense--Elliot Hershberg is best known for his Substack publication "The Century of Biology" where he shares insights on interesting preprints in the genomics field and recently thoughts on biotech through the VC lens too.

He is currently studying a genomics PhD at Stanford university and is a research analyst at NotBoring, a media and venture capital firm that has invested in tech companies including Substack itself.

In this episode:

• The biopunk vision


• Thoughts on the funding-publishing academia problem


• Elliot's research at Stanford


• The story behind the Century of Biology and where it's going next


• From academia to VC in the life sciences

Thanks for listening and sharing! Find me on Twitter @SofiasBio for more bioengineering ;)

Check out the first episode to get more context.

Feel free to check out Ivonne's YouTube channel as well: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClgPVl_yPDqMqbCv_xC2hfQ

Seyone is an 18-year old working at the intersection of machine learning and biochemistry, with an impressive background (including working for Fortune 500 companies and interning at a lab at the University of Toronto).

2045 is made for curious people who want to learn about the future, so previous knowledge is not required at all ;)

Get in touch with Seyone!

Personal website: https://seyonechithrananda.com/about

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/seyone-chithrananda-a5974915b/

Twitter: @SeyoneC

"Keep all of your fundamentals strong and for sure you'll find a place in cell ag". Irfan is currently a Ph.D. candidate and New Harvest Fellow at the Engineered Biomaterials Research Laboratory at the University of Vermont where he is tissue engineering cultured meat on plant-based scaffolds.

In this episode:

• from mechanical engineer to tissue engineer


• Irfan's research in plant-based scaffolds


• fundamental vs applied research


• why plastic is so great that biomaterials haven't fully replaced it yet

Find me on Twitter @Sofiasbio for more bio stories!

Main takeaways from Ray Kurzweil's book: The Singularity is Near.

In this episode

- Why the podcast is called 2045

- Predictions for the XXI century

- Why most futurists are wrong

- The 3 revolutions: genomics, nanotechnology, robotics

- How to thrive in the singularity

From learning about blockchain, to how Machine Learning can be used to exponentially accelerate the testing of batteries, problem solving frameworks, and much more...

Learn more about Alishba and reach out to her on her website: https://alishbaimran.com

Zimri is the CEO and founder of Bucha Bio, a biotech startup growing biomaterials using bacterial nanocellulose and plant-derived proteins. They were part of Indiebio, have raised over 250k, and are working on expanding their library of biopolymers.

In this episode:

• Zimri’s story as a founder


• All about BuchaBio


• Scaling up a biomaterials startup

"Be more conscientious of how our buying choices could make people's lives better and impact the world"—Alan Perlstein, CEO and founder @CaCultured, @indbio SF21.

In this OBio episode:

• Alan as a founder


• Lessons of a biotech CEO


• Patenting


• Ethics of cellAg

An episode about biochemical algorithms, the meaning of life, and education

Check out the article! https://sofiash.medium.com/the-future-is-now-3-3-86c294d01325?sk=476384fa2a859d6961e56065234be165

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @2045Podcast :) 

You can buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-21st-Century-Yuval-Harari/dp/0525512195/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2IGPBJGCT3N1&dchild=1&keywords=21+lessons+for+21st+century&qid=1608222509&sprefix=21+less%2Caps%2C219&sr=8-1

“The Future is Now” is a compilation of some of the most relevant ideas found in 21 Lessons for the XXI Century, a best selling book by Yuval Noah Harari

You can buy the book here

Or check Yuval's website

Follow @2045Podcast on Twitter to stay tuned with the future ;)

Microfluidics, synthetic biology, research, and startups. This is only half of the episode. Stay tuned for more!

Reach out Ivonne @IvonneLomeliL on Twitter and Ivonne Lomeli on LinkedIn :)

Follow @2045 Podcast on Instagram and Twitter for more!

Carlitos is a 16-year-old nanotech researcher and climate action enthusiast. In this episode:

• Craziest applications


• How to get started on nanotech


• Carlos' projects

Get in touch with Carlos

• Twitter


• LinkedIn

Guido is the CEO of Yealthy: a startup fostering discoveries to enhance human potential through exponential technology. He is also a futurist, entrepreneur, and Chief Exponential Officer.

In this episode: creating bioplastics with people from XPRIZE, quantum biology to cure diseases, using VR and blockchain for biotech research + Guido's top tips on leadership and productivity.

Connect with Guido on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guido-putignano/

Follow him on Twitter @GuidoPutignano

Follow the 2045 Podcast @2045Podcast on Instagram and Twitter

Check out Pt.1 if you haven't yet!

"It's time to grow"

In this episode:

· CEOs of unicorn companies, researchers from around the world, biohackers, and founders

· Balance between going technical, understanding, and making biotech truly exciting

· Academia and industry

· Cell ag, synbio, longevity, gene editing, AI, bioinformatics, quantum biology, and more

"We're standing in the shoulders of giants who are making it more likely that within our lifetimes we will be able to live longer"—Steven ten Holder 

@steventen is the co-founder of Acorn Biolabs, a company that stores your stem cells so you can have a brighter future. Before that, he studied a bioengineering undergraduate degree at Waterloo, where he also participated in iGEM, the synthetic biology competition.

He then joined YC, grew his startup, and now a director @theksociety, a world-class program for future innovators.

In this episode:

· The iGEM experience

· What has made Acorn a successful biotech startup

· The YC experience for a biotech startup

A very dystopian future be on its way. “The Future is Now” is a compilation of some of the most relevant ideas found in 21 Lessons for the XXI Century, a best selling book by Yuval Noah Harari

Sigil is the CEO and co-founder of BitSwap, a platform to buy and sell Bitclout for Etherum, raising funds at a 10 million dollar valuation!

In this episode:

• What taking the unconventional path means


• Learning how to learn


• The future of Bitclout


• Startups vs projects


• Living the "startup life"

Get in touch with Sigil:

• Website


• Twitter


• LinkedIn

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Follow us @2045Podcast on Twitter & Instagram too! :)

"Si queremos llegar a los objetivos de la agenda 2030 y tener algo sustentable, la biotecnología es la respuesta"

Ana Paula es cofundadora de RebX, una startup que busca crear el futuro de los endulzantes de Stevia aprovechando residuos agroindustriales. Ella ha sido parte de comunidades como iGEM, Allbiotech, y ha fundado su propio congreso de biotecnología, llamado Biogénesis. Junto con Andrés Moreno y Rodrigo Ferrer, el equipo está participando en la aceleradora de empresas de iGEM: EPiC!

En este episodio:

· La historia de Paula como bioemprendedora

· Inspirarte de las patentes de otros y usarlo a tu favor

· La importancia de hacer comunidad

"So many things to be solved, so many things to be done, LET'S GO MAKE SOME MOONSHOTS"—Rahul Rana

Raul is a GenZ VC, author of "Making Moonshots". During 2020, he worked at Lux capital, a fund investing in highly disruptive science and technology ventures, namely, moonshots. His mission is to incubate as many moonshot startups as possible as an investor and builder.

Rahul is also interested in improving the academia system, bridging science fiction and science fact, as well as working in policies that will solve big problems in the world.

In this episode:

· Rahul's story pre and post Making Moonshots

· Playing the great online game

· Knowing enough about a subject without being an expert

· Rethinking the scientific journal industry

"You can work on incredibly interesting and difficult challenges, make money, and have a fulfilling career while improving people's lives and the planet's life. So what's stopping you from joining this movement?"--Cai Linton, CEO and cofounder of Multus Media, UK-based startup accelerated by IndieBio NY in 2020.

In this OBio episode:

• Insights from Cai's previous work experience in academia research and at an IP law firm


• How Multus Media uses Machine Learning to optimize the development of their growth media


• Advice for aspiring biotech founders

Find me on Twitter @SofiasBio for more biotech content.

Adara is a creative disruptor on a mission create a more sustainable future through design and circular systems. In this episode:

• Sustainability in a nutshell


• The sustainable future of food


• Why fashion is a big problem (the way it's done today)


• Microbial fuel cells to create energy and clean water


• Advice for youth who want to help solve this problem

Resources Adara recommends

• Work on climate


• Ellen Macarthur foundation


• Circular design and biomimicry

Connect with Adara

• LinkedIn


• Website


• Twitter @astro_adara

"We wanted to move away from startup competitions and instead throw a massive welcome party to the bio-economy for everyone"--Seth

@sethpeachey is a former startup founder, bitcoin super-enthusiast, and has a lot of experience in business development, especially in SaaS used for employee engagement.

He is currently co-leading Race Against the Clock (RAC), an event organized by Synbiobeta and sponsored by Ginkgo Bioworks that aims to bring together future biotech founders who are (indeed) racing against the climate change clock.

In this episode:

· What Race Against the Clock is about

· The importance of networking in the biotech industry

· Cultivating mentorship relationships

"Stay humble, biodesigners"—Jake Wintermute

Jake is a synthetic biology teacher and researcher currently based at the CRI in Paris, France. Outside of studying antibiotics and the human microbiome, his interests range from wood as the perfect biomaterial, to making biotech more accessible.

As I’m interested in scicomms, Jake’s charismatic tweets and synbio jokes really caught my attention. Plus, I couldn’t help my curiosity about his recent role as a synbio evangelist at Ginkgo ;)

In this episode:

• elegance in science


• what the first-ever synbio evangelist does at Ginkgo Bioworks


• bringing biotech to the mainstream


• what makes a good scientist and a great biotech entrepreneur

Anna Heck and Ammielle Wambo share with us everything they know about a mind-blowing technology between the worlds of tech and biology. Is this the end of computing as we know it?

Connect with Anna! https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-heck-8310081b8/

Connect with Ammielle! https://www.linkedin.com/in/ammielle-wambo-becker/

Follow us @2045Podcast on Instagram and Twitter ;)

A lot of people want to change the world, solve a problem, start a business, invent something... but don't know where to start! 

Isabella Grandic is a 17-year-old innovator, who has spoken at +5 conferences around the world, done cultured meat research, and now is working in her organization, EMM (Ending Maternal Mortality)

Connect with Izzy!

Personal website: https://isabellagrandic.com

Project Website: https://emm.health

Taking a new drug to the market can take more than 10 years! AI is about to completely disrupt the way this is done. Maybe you haven't heard about drug discovery with AI, but you can discover what the latest advancements in this field are by listening to this episode ;)

Connect with Mukundh! https://www.linkedin.com/in/mukundhmurthy/

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to know more about the amazing future that awaits us! @2045Podcast

Yadira es una científica Mexicana que estudió su doctorado en inocuidad alimenticia en Canadá. Hace unos años, se adentró a la industria de agricultura celular y fundó Cell Ag Canada. Ahora es la directora de colaboraciones en New Harvest, una organización de agricultura celular, sin fines de lucro, reconocida internacionalmente.

En este episodio:

• Breve introducción a la agricultura celular


• La historia de Yadira


• Retos en la industria


• Ideas locas

Links mencionados en el episodio:

• Bistro In Vitro - menú de alimentos hechos a través de agricultura celular


• Self Made - queso hecho con bacterias del microbioma humano


• Bite Labs - carne de celebridades, hecha a través de agricultura celular

Josiah is a leader in biohacking, CEO and founder of The Odin (https://www.the-odin.com), a company that is democratizing bio engineering.

In this episode:

• Cellular agriculture


• Mental models to innovate


• Why ideas are worthless


• Reverse engineering DNA with Machine Learning


• The future of biotech

Follow us @2045Podcast on Twitter and Instagram :)

"Take responsibility and do biohacking"—Dariia Dantseva

Dariia is a biohacker and founder of the Yanelab—the first and only DIY bio lab in Ukraine. She has been part of the CDC biohacker group, a trio of biohackers who, among other things, created a DIY corona vaccine for themselves (and it worked!).

Her experience includes building a microinjection machine, genetically modifying bacteria in all sorts of ways, culturing human cells, and even creating a battle between bacteria and human immune cells ;))

In this episode:

• Her story as a biohacker


• A summer @TheOdin


• The spiritual side of science

IndieBio is the place where entrepreneurship meets science, founders from diverse backgrounds connect, and solutions to the world’s biggest problems come to life. Arvind Gupta is the founder of Indiebio and Po Branson is the managing director. They both wrote the most creative book I’ve ever read: Decoding the world, on the science of our future.

In this episode:

• Why microbes are so cool


• The scientific method applied in daily life


• Other main takeaways from the book

Follow Amy on Twitter @Amyli0

"Talk to as many people as you can and don't be afraid to reach out. Naturally they'll become your mentors because they'll see you grow"--Subaita Rahman, cofounder of Nucleate Dojo and the Dojo House (the global community for biotech undergrads and the first-ever co-living house for young scientists).

In this episode:

• Reverse-engineer your path to be a biotech founder


• The biotech environment in Toronto


• Why Subaita founded BioDojo (now Nuclete Dojo) with her friends

Find me on Twitter @SofiasBio for more updates on what I'm building, creating, and learning.

Luca is an unconventional teenager, founder of 5 startups, and passionate about robotics. In this episode we discuss our perspective around the pandemic in Brazil, online education, and get to know Luca a little more :)

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Follow us @2045Podcast on IG and Twitter!

Connect with Luca on IG @luca_moreira_official

Christopher is the founder and CEO of EdenBio, a startup building a Machine Learning platform to help biotech startups have higher yields in precision fermentation.

In this episode:

1. How to face the recession as a biotech startup


2. All about EdenBio


3. Rock-paper-scissors in the biotech startup environment


4. Why some biotechs scale better than others


5. Will biology be predictable one day?

Follow me on Twitter @SofiasBio for more biotech updates!

🧬 Why we age, action items to increase our healthspan, resources to get started in the field, including building a longevity startup. Connect with Nina! Resources: Longevity FAQs, Laura Deming, Lifespan book

In this episode:

* What does it mean to be a creative director at a synthetic biology company?

* Christina’s story in science

* Why synbio is more mainstream than “we” think

* Anecdotes of the GMO sticker

* Skills and mindsets for synbio

* What needs to change in order to grow an abundant future with synbio

Links

* Christina’s twitter

* GROW magazine

* Ginkgo Bioworks

* Sofia’s Twitter

Li Lu es la CEO de Forma Foods, la primera empresa de carne cultivada en México, que ha reunido a los mejores expertos en ingeniería de tejidos, bioreactores, y ciencia de carne para ofrecer la proteína del futuro a millones de Mexicanos.

Con inversión de Saya Bio, comenzaron con un prototipo a base de plantas y están a buscan transicionar pronto a un producto híbrido con células animales, para tener en un futuro carne al 100% como la conocemos hoy.

En esta entrevista:

* Por qué Li Lu dejó la industria energética y petrolera para cumplir un sueño de niña de crecer carne “en un árbol”

* Cómo Saya Bio empezó a reunir al equipo de Forma e invirtieron en ellos

* Impresión 3D de células en un laboratorio de investigación del Tec de Monterrey a la carne a base de plantas y futuros híbridos

* Cómo conectar con un mercado a través de la creatividad, meticulosidad, y la identidad Mexicana

* Las ideas más locas que pueden imaginar, y posiblemente crear, los meat designers

* Consejos para futuros fundadores de empresas de biotecnología

Episodios similares:

* Yadira Tejeda - Cofundadora @ CellAgCanada

* Cai Linton - CEO & Cofounder @ Multus Media

* Alan Perlstein - CEO @ California Cultured

Evan is a super fun and kind plant synthetic biologist from Berkeley whose work focuses on improving CO2 capture. Even beyond that, Evan is mindful and proactive about making SB safe and accessible to everyone through efforts like spreading this knowledge to people in Kenya!

In this family friendly (jargon-free) conversation, we touch on relevant books, the craziest things he’s seen plants do, how he juggles between being a saxophonist and a plant synthetic biologist, how it’s like inside the IGI, and more! Feel free to share with friends and fam!

‘til next one,S🧠fia

Last 20 minutes

Entrevista completa en YouTube

Mi serie de artículos con GRIDX

Majo es actual investigadora en UCSF. Es iGEMer de corazón, ayudó a empezar Compound Foods (alternativa sustentable para el café), y estudió en el TEC de Costa Rica. Me da mucho gusto que podamos compartir contigo sus fascinantes e inspiradoras experiencias!

Mis links:

* Twitter

* LinkedIn

* Substack (blog)

It’s 5:00AM in Toluca when Sofia Sanchez wakes up to the sound of her Westclox, ready for another day as a business major. She drives to her hometown’s business school, listening to the radio, wondering what her professor’s reaction will be to the 76-page final report she wrote with the help of her beloved IBM Selectric, her worn-out Chartpak stencil, her family’s encyclopedia, and Mexico City’s IBM center for some calculations. She makes a stop at a phone call station to remind her teammate to correct the finger mistake on the cardboard they made about some ultra-innovative “personal computing” devices her uncle in the US once told her about. Not much more is to be said about Sofia Sanchez. April 1st, 2024 was just another day for a normal 20-year-old in a small town in Mexico.

Thank Lick it’s April Fool’s!

“How do the current and next thing get determined?” was the question that gave birth to this piece. Whether they’d be ideas, beliefs, fonts, or technologies, I’d been deeply curious to understand the nature of trends in our world. I wanted to know if there were principles for steering the world towards a particular direction, and whether I could use those principles to change the way biotechnology changes the world.

For the past few weeks, I’ve explored J.C.R Licklider’s visionary mind, Everett Roger’s theory on the Diffusion of Innovations, René Girard’s Theory of Mimetic Desire, and the desires of GenZ influencers on Instagram. This piece is a third batch of thoughts at the intersection of culture and biology, this time focusing on how biology can influence modern culture as much as modern culture influences biology.

The Presynbiotech Era

The habitants of the terrifying alternate universe I described in the very first paragraph, are firm believers that the future is merely what hasn’t happened yet but eventually will. To them, technology equals destiny and evolution is synonymous with inexorable. What we, in this universe made happen in 30 years, they might start dreaming about in 60.

To yours and my own fortune, 5 years prior to the birth of Moore’s Law, Man-computer symbiosis was published by J.C.R Licklider (Lick for us friends). While Moore had made an accurate prediction on how far we could take computers, Lick set a clear vision and agenda for how personal computers and the intergalactic network would become the new medium of creative expression: how tech would change culture.

Lick dreamed about everything from Zoom to PayPal, Instagram, and the iPad and he led the development of early versions of them. Slightly paraphrased, one of my absolute favorite passages in the Dream Machine book answers how he did that:

Lick knew he couldn’t get it all done in one year or two years or a lifetime. By creating a community of fellow believers, however, he guaranteed that his vision would live on after him. When he arrived at ARPA in 1962, there was nothing more than a handful of uncoordinated efforts scattered across the country. By the time he left in 1964, he had forged those into a nationwide movement with direction, coherence and purpose. By putting most of the money into universities, he supported the rising generation, whose hearts and minds he won and convinced that computer science was an exciting thing to do. In 1988, that community was the one thing that he was willing to take credit for: “I think I found a lot of bright people and got them working in this area”.

Of course, we would be doomed too if the world was only full of dreamers like Lick! We need builders like Alan Kay who build them to life and artists like Steve Jobs who steal from them and bring the tech to everyone once it’s cheap enough. Call it lack of vision, bad management or timing, neither Intel nor H&P nor Xerox nor IBM capitalized on their decades of technological advantage over the garage hackers. Yet the garage hackers didn’t invent the tech alone; they more so put the puzzle together once the pieces were there. Dream, build, sell.

Today, we are living in the Presynbiotech Era. It is a time before ubiquitous Artificial Intelligence-engineered life, a time before the worlds of silicon and carbon intelligence truly fuse as one.

Oddly enough, I have not yet encountered a clear 50-year dream of the social paradigm shifts that we will create through biotechnology. If no one’s even dreaming, how will we arrive at a different future❗❓

Computers have changed the way we think. Synbio will change the way we feel. There will not only be dinosaurs, but UBERs, TikTok marketplaces and AirBnBs. We will have new kinds of enhanced humans of mixed sexes, races and talents, iPlants that act as programmable vending machines where I can buy anything from on the street, an axolotl-turtle hybrid that wakes me up in the morning and cleans my bedroom, and expresso machines that use personalized capsules that keep track of and maintain each one of my biomarkers in place. End of famine, disease, poverty and war too.

The fact that we even start thinking of a Pre-synbiotech Era means that we can start dreaming about a Synbiotech one. If you’d been waiting for a call, here you go: I’m calling YOU to share more audacious, truly crazy, dreams of a Synbiotech future, for those who look back on these dreams 50 years hence might as well be living them.

And surely, remember: had the world waited for Lick to sell iPads, you would not be reading this either. Dreams matter as much as execution and you truly can learn anything. So if you enjoy building, go for it. Real artists ship.

Today’s weirdos are tomorrow’s basics

In his Theory on the Diffusion of Innovations, Everett Rogers defines innovation as anything that is perceived as new by someone. He categorizes the adopters of an innovation into 5 main groups, according to influential power, risk aversion and the resulting order in which they adopt: the innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards—A business school all-time favorite.

The graph is so good that reading the whole book won’t get you much farther than: 1) it’s early adopters (aka influencers) and not innovators who bring innovations to billions; 2) though anyone can be an influencer, the closer the better; 3) the who matters more than the what.

The theory checks as I go back to my latest purchasing and habit decisions. For example, I’d heard about the WHOOP band from Bryan Johnson, Steve from Diary of a CEO, other macro influencers and numerous YouTube ads, but I was only convinced enough to buy it until I interacted closely with a user I could relate to: a young, female, Mexican bioengineer who’d graduated from the same university where I study.

Something that Tesla has left clear too, is that innovators and early adopters can absorb the cost of being first. They are not only helping spread the technology by providing feedback and generating revenue but by modeling that desire to the early majority that relies on and admires them.

Where Rogers falls short and Girard goes deeper is in the actual dynamics between influencers and followers. What I learned from reading about the Theory of Mimetic Desire is that, in our quest for personal differentiation, we look up to people whom we can relate to, who are looked up to by people like us AND who have something we still lack.

The most obvious examples of influencers are early adopters like Bryan Johnson and Steve. The more subtle yet more powerful influencers are people like the bioengineer with the WHOOP who had something I wanted (being perceived as a healthy person) while still being relatable.

Lick’s dreams have come to life to such an extent that being an internet influencer is no longer exclusive to elites. The rise of the microinfluencer (<100k followers) is a whole case study, not only of a shift in the distribution of goods but a paradigm shift of trust from the system towards the individual (which Lick’s visions quite promoted too). I, a GenZ girl, no longer care for what Walmart might put on TV or even YouTube ads but tell me about the 20-second reel of a microinfluencer on her Sunday trip to Walmart and I’ll buy the thing just as I bought the WHOOP.

“The thing” only matters to the innovators and the early adopters, the masses only care about who is modeling it. One day you buy the story of Zuck and Thiel dropouts, the next you buy YC’s and PG’s of staying in school. Stupid TikTok trends go viral and waves of Web3, LLM and VR founders come and go. Why, then, wouldn’t we be able to make culturally viral biotechnology once it’s ready?

In all non-pharma biotech, I consider myself an early adopter (and aspiring innovator) of ideas. While all opinion leaders are early adopters, however, not all early adopters are opinion leaders. The key to innovations crossing the chasm towards the early majority is in opinion leaders (aka influencers). I think biotech in particular, needs translators: people lying at the intersection of innovators and early adopters. Translators understand the science well enough to SHOW and SELL it to an early majority of niche influencers who will take it to the masses. In the best case, they are founders with amazing products who are also great storytellers.

Idea-grown bioeconomies

People are freaking making live sales on TikTok, snacks are the new autographs, the young are heavily steering towards lifestyles of running more than drinking and subscribing more than we owning. Sustainability and diversity are on the agenda and actions of major corporations, and social media is the new search engine not only for products but for people starting communities and friendships that are URL-first and IRL-second.

Knowing stuff like Moore’s law for DNA gets you to build Ozempic. Knowing where culture is headed (and where it’s not) gets you to design the right thing in the first place so that billions actually use it. It gets to to understand the power of making pilots with [farmers] who are also influencers who can model your product to their followers, at scale. Replace farmers with your customer.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we need less videos of adayinthelifeofanivyleaguephdstudentpipetting and more lab and startup tours of [Living Carbon], explaining step by step how they make their [superplants]. Sexy Instagram pics of that [superplant] in my nice millennial-styled home. Replace Living Carbon and superplant for 500 startups doing cool s**t like that.

Though I’m mostly talking about consumer biotech here, vaccines like moderna’s, GMOs like BT maize and cotton, recombinant insulin, and algae-derived Omega-3 all needed someone to be convinced to even begin production and eventually reach massive consumption. Sometimes that someone is a policy-maker, as is the case of Mexican officials who ban GMOs.

Ideas can inspire products that grow bioeconomies. To change how biotechnology changes the world, how biotech influences our culture, I shall share my Synbiotech dreams with biotechnologists as much as I translate and show what they build to the early majority so we all can live in the future, in a different future.

“I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one” — Ayn Rand

Thanks for reading S🧠FIA! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

PS: In OUR universe, at 5:00AM, a young Sofia Sanchez wakes up to the vibration of her WHOOP band, ready for an extraordinary day as a future biological technologist. She nurtures her mind by listening to the brightest minds from around the world on podcasts, and connects with friends creating the future on something called X. She wrote down this article on her beloved MacBook Air and sent it to nearly 500 hundred people via an intergalactic network. April 1st, 2024 was a new beginning in her journey to bring exceptional biology into the hands of billions ;)

Episode highlights in 5-min video

* MeliBio started as a precision fermentation company yet pivoted towards a plant-based product to avoid remaining as a “garage science project” for too long, without fulfilling their mission.

* Darko experienced first-hand the hurdles of building not one but two manufacturing facilities in his previous jobs. He’s now outsourcing that for MeliBio and focusing on building a great team that improves the science and the brand for their customers.

* Coming from a place of scarcity of resources, Darko is the only biofounder I’ve heard talk about the importance of using venture capital as a launchpad, which means making the right decisions to reach profitability.

PS: HAPPY 4th-year BIRTHDAY, MeliBio 🥳!! Looking forward to trying out Mellody on my pancakes very soon 🍯.

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Senseory is a startup creating plants that bring natural, effervescent aromas indoors. This is an interview with Gigi Minsky, the co-founder and CEO. We talk about her previous experience at companies like Ginkgo Bioworks, her business plan for Senseory, working with a plant biohacker, and the product's most important technical specs (what they can say for now). Enjoy my intro on why I think companies Senseory are the future of consumer biotechnology.

Thanks to Elliot Roth for kindly providing the space to record and thanks to Gigi for helping me experience the biotech they’re creating :-)

By day, Nick is a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Ueli Grossniklaus at the University of Zürich. By night, he is a flower engineer and artist on a mission to communicate the beauty of plant science to the public through educational projects… you may recognize him as the guy who genetically engineered Arabidopsis flowers and leaves to have different colors and shapes.

In this episode:

* Where do you draw the line between art and science?

* Can we build flower design LLMs?

* Could we engineer interactive, responsive, moving plants?

* How can we epigenetically reprogram plants?

* What future plant biotech tool would you be the most blown away by?

* What are Nick’s next steps in his educational projects?

* What are the craziest ideas to make with plant engineering?

* How is biology different to other expression media?

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Omica es un biobanco nacido en México, con la misión de traer medicina de precisión a América Latina. Previo a ello, Victor empezó MariMori, una empresa dedicada al descubrimiento de nuevos biomateriales.

En este episodio, hablamos de los retos y oportunidades de los emprendimientos biotecnológicos en la región, así como la trayectoria de Victor desde estudiante de ingeniería biomédica en la universidad de Boston, hasta hoy.

Si te interesa el bioemprendimiento, tal vez quieras checar mi artículo (pronto en Español): A call for the decentralization of (biotech) innovation.

Puedes encontrarme en Twitter @Sofiasbio — hablemos de startups de biotec!!

TurtleTree es una startup de proteínas alternativas para productos lácteos en Singapore. Antes de unirse a ella en una etapa temprana, Nacho estudió y trabajó en el Tec de Monterrey y tuvo experiencia en Nestlé y Grupo Herdez en México.

Espero que este episodio sea de especial ayuda para gente empezando una carrera en biotecnología, que busca alternativas de trabajo poco convencionales.

* Te recomiendo otro episodio en Español: Ana Paula Acevedo sobre empezar una startup de biotecnología en la universidad.

* Puedes checar más contenido de biotecnología en mi Substack y contactarme en Twitter o LinkedIn.

* Recuerda que este episodio está disponible en mi canal de YouTube, Apple Podcasts y Spotify.

Mark (@markbelan) holds a Bachelors in Arts & Science, a Masters in Geochemistry and Astrobiology, as well as a Masters in Biomedical communication. Before becoming a freelance scientific illustrator featured by Nature, he did research in astrobiology which could be useful to find life on other planets.

In this episode, we dive into different aspects at the intersection of art and science: what they mean to him, finding balance between beauty and functionality, we briefly touch on neurodesign, and discuss thoughts on hot topics like AI-generated images and Comic Sans.

Science communications and design shape the perspective of the general public around new research; I think it’s an essential skill for all of us to develop. I LOVED chatting with Mark about this, hope you enjoyed the episode too :)