Subject
11 entries
Biotech
Bookmarks
Cradle: AI Platform for Protein Engineering
Cradle is an AI platform for protein engineering and design — uses generative models to suggest protein sequence modifications that improve properties like stability, expression, and activity. Targets the biotech workflow where engineers iteratively improve proteins through wet lab cycles.
Power: Clinical Trial Access Platform
Power is a clinical trial matching platform making trials accessible to any patient who needs them, not just those with top doctors. The bet is that better trial matching improves both patient outcomes and trial recruitment — a dual-sided market problem in healthcare.
New DNA Construct Can Set Off a "Mutagenic Chain Reaction"
Ars Technica on the first demonstration of a CRISPR-based gene drive — a genetic construct that can spread a modification through an entire wild population. One of the most consequential biotechnology developments of 2015, with ecological and ethical implications that are still being worked out.
Biological Computer: Stanford's Genetic Transistors Turn Cells into Computers
Stanford researchers created genetic transistors that turn living cells into biological computers — RNA-based logic gates that implement Boolean operations inside E. coli. A 2013 milestone in synthetic biology demonstrating programmable cellular computation.
This Protein Could Change Biotech Forever
Matthew Herper's early Forbes coverage of Cas9 — written just nine months after the landmark Doudna/Charpentier Science paper and weeks after Feng Zhang showed it worked in human cells. One of the first mass-market articles to call CRISPR a potential forever-change for biotech.
BamH1.com: Bleeding Edge Bio/Tech News for Nerds
BamH1.com — a 'bleeding edge bio/tech news for nerds' aggregator site. The name is a molecular biology pun: BamHI is a restriction enzyme from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, used ubiquitously in cloning. A niche but well-positioned site for the biohacker/biotech audience.
Desktop Genetics Design Competition Brief
Desktop Genetics' 2013 design competition brief — an early-stage biotech company building software tools for genome editing. Interesting artifact from the pre-mainstream CRISPR moment when genome engineering was transitioning from academic to startup territory.
Printing Evolves: An Inkjet for Living Tissue
WSJ piece on inkjet-style bioprinters capable of depositing living cells layer by layer to build tissue structures — a 2012 snapshot of bioprinting before it hit mainstream awareness. The long road from printed tissue samples to transplantable organs had just begun.
New Software Makes Synthesizing DNA As Easy As Drag and Drop
Singularity Hub on new software making DNA design as simple as drag-and-drop icons — a 2012 snapshot of the movement to democratize genetic engineering through better tooling. If DNA synthesis software follows the CAD-to-CAM trajectory, biological programming becomes accessible far beyond PhD labs.
Scientists Grow Bacon from Stem Cells
A 2012 report on scientists growing bacon-like tissue from stem cells — an early milestone in cellular agriculture research. This predates the more famous 2013 lab-grown burger by Mark Post, but represented the same wave of interest in cultured meat as a sustainable protein source.
Value of Genomics and Personalized Medicine Is Wrongly Downplayed
UCSF researchers pushing back against a widely-reported study claiming DNA's power to predict illness is limited — arguing that the value of genomics for personalized medicine is being systematically underestimated. A 2012 snapshot of a debate that's still ongoing.