Category: synthetic biology

How to Create 10,000 Jobs?

How do you create 10,000 jobs? Train 500 brewers. Originally, I was going to write: Train 10,000 teachers. Despite the overwhelming need for teachers [1], the profession currently is looked down upon in the United States and people don’t understand that if you don’t invest in education, you’re not investing in the future. (Cynically, I […]

30 Things I Did Before Turning 30

In anticipation of my 54th birthday, I answered this question on Quora: What are the 30 things you did before turning 30 in your life? Learned to skateboard ramps and pools. Memorized every ditch and was part of an informal word-of-mouth network that knew when a new ramp appeared in Ventura. Convinced my parents to drive […]

Who Takes iGEM Seriously?

This past week iGEM startup PvP Biologics closed a $35 million round with Takeda. Last year, in June 2016, Ginkgo Bioworks raised $100 million. The company was founded by a team that participated in the first iGEM competitions. The iGEM startup page lists some 19 startups that originated from the competition. While Christopher VanLang is […]

A Brief, Personal Reading List – Fiction September 2016

I recently shared this reading list with thesalesblog author and sales guru Anthony Iannarino. Anthony’s extremely well read but admitted he didn’t read much fiction. Here’s what I wrote him: I grew up on science fiction and have read a lot of it and admit it’s inspired my career. But I’ve also read a lot […]

Interview: John Cumbers of SynBioBeta | Passionate Entrepreneurs Using Biology to Improve the World

Here’s John Cumbers, founder of SynBioBeta. In this interview, John reveals SynBioBeta’s origin story, the challenges he faced in starting the company what big companies don’t understand about start-up synthetic biology companies. It’s an excellent read. Enjoy. Introduction Stories about synthetic biology make news every day. Called “the next stage of genetic engineering,” synthetic biology brings […]

Science Writing Radio: How to Create a Podcast That Actually Delivers Useful Information

Only three percent of marketers say they use podcasts as a content marketing tactic, according to the Content Marketing Institute’s Sarah Mitchell. Among life sciences marketers, the number of podcasts aimed at patients or physicians could probably be counted on both hands. Industry publications such as FierceBiotech, Pharmaceutical Executive and PharmaIQ have embraced the medium […]

Captain Underpants, BioBuilder and iGEM: Preparing Kids for the Biotech Century

Melvin’s Li’l Scientist Wristwatch had a built-in DNA extractor. Melvin inserted the filthy toenail into his watch and programmed a complete extraction procedure while the Turbo Toilet 2000 chased him back through town… As Melvin ran screaming, his watch quickly pulverized and sonicated the toenail cells, removed their membrane lipids, proteins and RNA, and purified […]

Biofabricate: Scientists + Artists Transform Materials, Manufacturing

This week, a group of artists, designers, and scientists will gather in New York City for the second annual Biofabricate conference. They’ll be discussing the use of biological organisms to create new materials and transform manufacturing. You might think a conference like this would attract only scientists, but surprisingly it is the often artists and designers in […]

The Pool at 4 A.M.

My father’s pool is, was, and always will be –– all skaters agree –– absurd. The pale blue surface is very hard, durable, very fast, and sentient. The coping is a great grindable bullnose. The shape is a perfect kidney, just under nine-feet deep. To ride the pool from one lip to the other across […]

20. How To Clone A Dragon 2 | Can We Bioengineer Dragons?

[For Part 1 of this series on How to Clone* a Dragon, click here.] # In the first of her two part post on How to Bioengineer a Dragon, Keira Havens, of Revolution Bioengineering, argues that there should be a compelling reason to modify a living organism to create a dragon. She points out that “it is unlikely […]