The SynBioBeta Podcast

On this SynBioBeta podcast, John Cumbers talks with Edward Shenderovich, the Founder and CEO of Synonym, a company creating bioeconomy infrastructure to help next-generation bioproducts scale and get to market. Edward will speak at this year’s SynBioBeta conference on “Scaling Biological Capacity,” and in today’s episode, John and Edward will discuss how Synonym addresses some of the challenges in biomanufacturing with its technology-driven products and focus. Edward Shenderovich is the founder and CEO of Synonym, which provides startups with a way to value the feasibility of their technology and effectively de-risk scalability. Edward has extensive experience in the tech industry and has founded numerous companies and VC firms, including Essential Capital, Knotel, Kite Ventures, and Merchantry. Edward and his co-founder Joshua Lachter started Synonym in January 2022 to establish, fund, and construct large-scale bio-manufacturing facilities, offering synthetic biology producers of various scales adaptable production capabilities while simultaneously providing infrastructure investors with opportunities in a novel, carbon-negative bio-manufacturing asset class. Connect with Edward: @eshender Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter, and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

On this SynBioBeta podcast, John Cumbers talks with Eben Bayer, the CEO of Ecovative, a pioneering company at the forefront of developing sustainable materials using mycelium. John and Eben will discuss Ecovative’s journey toward creating a billion pounds of mycelium, explore some of the cutting-edge agricultural technology used in mushroom growing, and discuss the transformative potential of new mycelium crops in consumer goods. Additionally, John and Eben will dive into Ecovative’s unique use of AI and digital twins. Eben Bayer is the CEO of Ecovative, a pioneering company at the forefront of developing sustainable materials using mycelium, Co-founder of My Forest Foods, which uses mycelium to make foods like Mybacon, and is listed as an inventor on 64+ patents. As an entrepreneur, inventor, and futurist, Eben speaks around the world, communicating the immense potential of natural technologies and advocating sustainable stewardship of Spaceship Earth. In addition to his executive roles at Ecovative and MyForest Foods, he advises environmental start-ups in New York and worldwide. Connect with Eben: @ebenbayer Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

On this SynBioBeta podcast, John Cumbers talks with Sean McClain, founder, and CEO of Absci, a generative AI drug creation company on a mission to create better drugs for patients faster. Sean and John will continue some of the discussion that we started on the SynBioBeta stage around generative AI and its critical role in drug discovery, some news from AbSci’s recent R&D day, and Sean’s recent visit to Congress to discuss the opportunities and threats from AI and bio. Sean McClain is the Founder and CEO of Absci, which he built from a basement lab to a publicly traded company that continues to strive towards his vision of creating therapeutics at the click of a button. Under his leadership, Absci scaled to over 200 employees, raised over $450M in capital, established a growing number of industry-leading partnerships and built an Integrated Drug Creation Platform that merges bleeding-edge generative AI models with proprietary high-throughput wet-lab data. Sean studied biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Arizona and has been the recipient of numerous recognitions for his entrepreneurship and innovation. He serves as a board member for the Oregon Translational Research and Development Institute and Life Science Washington. Connect with Sean: @SeanRMcClain Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

Today, John Cumbers talks with Ursheet Parikh, a general partner at Mayfield Fund, an early-stage, global venture capital firm with a people-first philosophy and a 50-plus-year history of investing and partnering with founders. John and Ursheet will discuss the state of the synthetic biology market and what startups can do to survive and thrive in this turbulent economy. Ursheet Parikh is a general partner at Mayfield Fund, where he has been investing in both human and planetary health companies since 2013. Ursheet’s investments include companies such as Mammoth Biosciences, which has a focus on discovering novel CRISPR systems; Mission Bio, which is looking to apply a Single-Cell Sequencing platform toward oncology; Qventus, which is blazing a trail in Healthcare-AI; and Endpoint Health, which is reshaping the Precision Immunology space—just to name a few. Ursheet holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a Bachelors in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. He is passionate about accelerating healthcare innovation and transforming college education, where his family foundation is focused. Connect with Ursheet: @ursheet Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Kyle Giffin, Co-Founder and COO of Latch Bio, the San Francisco-based company that is looking to harmonize data analysis through the application of its integrated bioinformatics platform. Over 50 leading biotechs in drug discovery, therapeutics, agriculture, and climate use LatchBio to accelerate R&D. The team is young, bold, and hiring. To learn more, go to www.latch.bio. Check out this week’s sponsor: Mayfield Kyle Giffin is a co-founder and the COO of LatchBio. He studied neuroscience and data science at UC Berkeley. In 2021, Giffin dropped out of Berkeley to found LatchBio with the aim of accelerating fundamental science. Connect with Kyle: @kylegiff Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter, and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

In this episode, John Cumbers chats with Michael Kamdar, President & CEO and Phil Paik, CTO, both of whom are at Molecular Assemblies—a San Diego-based life sciences company developing an enzymatic DNA synthesis technology designed to power the next generation of DNA-based products. The trio will discuss the competitive DNA synthesis landscape, Molecular Assemblies plans for commercialization, and what Mike and Phil envision for the future of the company and the industry. Check out this week’s sponsor: Form Bio Mike Kamdar is an industry veteran with business development and financing expertise who joined Molecular Assemblies in 2016. Mike has been in leadership positions within the biotech industry for numerous years, guiding companies such as Aguron, Pfizer and Hepion, Mike has a bachelor's in biology from St. Joseph’s University and an MBA from Villanova University. Phil Paik has over 16 years of experience in technology innovation and platform development and joined Molecular Assemblies in 2020 after serving as an Associate Director of Engineering at Illumina—where he spent a number of years responsible for fluidics architecture and instrument development. Phil received both his master’s and PhD degrees from Duke University. Connect with Mike & Phil: @molassemblies Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter, and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Claire Aldridge, Chief Strategy Officer at FormBio. Together they will discuss Form Bio, the spin-out from Colossal Laboratories & Biosciences, cell and gene therapies, why they are so difficult to manufacture, and the regulatory environment for these technologies. Check out this week’s sponsor: Molecular Assemblies Claire Aldridge, Chief Strategy Officer at FormBio. Claire brings decades of experience facilitating the translation of scientific discoveries into patient and commercial benefits. Claire has leveraged her training as a translator to act as a liaison between scientists and non-scientists, effectively communicating the potential of science. Her career has focused on technology commercialization, improving patient outcomes, working with disease-specific nonprofits, venture philanthropy, and biotech and life science investing. Claire has a Ph.D. from Duke University in the Department of Immunology and Program in Genetics, and her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science is from Texas A&M University. Since grad school, Claire has had an extensive career in the biotech industry, leading them to numerous successful endeavors. Connect with Claire: @ClaireAldrige2 Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter, and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Jason Kelly, Co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. Together they will discuss synthetic biology’s coming of age” and get Jason’s take on several topics, such as the history of programmable biology, Sam Altman, Ai and the role of AI in biology, and the new congressional commission covering national security and emerging biotechnology. Check out this week's sponsor: Twist Bioscience Jason Kelly is a co-founder and the CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks. He obtained his doctorate in Bioengineering from MIT in 2008, where he worked on engineering bacteria to produce biofuels. In 2009, Kelly co-founded Ginkgo Bioworks along with four other co-founders. Under his leadership, Ginkgo has grown to become one of the leading companies in the field of synthetic biology, with a focus on developing custom microbes for a wide range of applications, including pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and industrial chemicals. Jason has been recognized for his contributions to synthetic biology, receiving several awards, including MIT Technology Review's Innovator Under 35 and Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Energy. Connect with Matt: @jrkelly Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter, and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Matt Ocko, co-founder and co-Managing Partner of the silicon valley deep tech venture fund DCVC. The topics for today are the different visions of the Star Trek and Star Wars future economies, the utopic versus the dystopic; how he evaluates a company in the context of these sci-fi classics; and why he has decided to invest in Deep Tech and what opportunities are emerging in synthetic biology. Matt has over three decades of experience in the Deep Tech space, including computational and synthetic biology. Along with his investment work at DCVC, Matt holds upwards of 50 approved or pending patents. He also has a deep knowledge of China and the intellectual property environment there. He worked pro-bono with his Dad for 20 years to help develop China’s venture capital and technology regulatory frameworks. And somehow, he still finds time to build robots with his kids. Connect with Matt: @mattocko Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Massimo Portincaso, managing director and partner at BCG. John will be talking to Massimo about what nature co-design, how we're shifting from global supply chains to global value chains, what distributed biological manufacturing is, and more.. Massimo Portincaso co-leads the Deep Tech Mission, BCG’s unit focused on the deep tech approach to innovation, emerging technologies, and the new rules of engagement for all actors in the innovation space. He is also the Chairman of Hello Tomorrow, an organization dedicated to unlocking the power of deep tech to solve the toughest global challenges. You can keep up with Massimo through his newsletter, The Antidisciplinarian, which covers happenings at the intersection of matter, computation, sensing, creativity, and ethics. Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to our SynBioBeta events! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Karl Schmieder the founder of messagingLAB, a strategy and consulting firm that helps biotechnology and synthetic biology companies create and execute strategies to drive the industry forward. Connect with Karl: @karlschmieder Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta Brand and Biology event December 2nd & 3rd! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Ryan Bethencourt, founder and CEO of Wild Earth. John will be talking to Ryan about the state of COVID and questions like "Does eating animals cause pandemics?" Recorded live on: March 15th, 2020 To watch the video component: https://www.facebook.com/SynBioBeta/videos/199598178035525/ Connect with Ryan: @RyanBethencourt Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2020 this September 29 - October 1! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Emily Leproust, Entrepreneur and CEO of Twist Bioscience. John will be talking to Emily about why she founded Twist, the many industries that will be disrupted by DNA technology, and how Twist is building a company culture for growth diversity and excellence. Emily is the co founder and the CEO of Twist Bioscience, an early pioneer in high throughput synthesis and sequencing of DNA. Emily is disrupting the process of gene synthesis to enable the exponential growth of synthetic biology applications in many fields, including medicine, DNA, data storage, agriculture biology, and industrial chemicals. Connect with Emily.: @EmilyLeproust Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2020 this September 29 - October 1! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with John Nicols, President and CEO of Codexis, a leading protein engineering company here in Silicon Valley. I’ll be talking with John about “How protein engineering is the killer app for biology.” Specifically, I’ll talk with John about the amazing pedigree and origins of Codexis, how companies like Codexis are changing the way the biopharma industry does business, and John’s vision for how protein engineering is going to impact our daily lives. Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2020 this September 29 - October 1! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with D.A. Wallach, recording artist and emerging tech investor. John will be talking to D.A. about his journey from performing artist to investor in emerging tech, how his unique background informs his investment thesis, and what opportunities he’s most excited about in synthetic biology these days. D.A. Wallach is a recording artist, songwriter, and investor. While an undergraduate at Harvard, he was discovered by Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. As a solo artist, D.A. is signed by Harvest Records, a subsidiary of Capitol Records, and he is the former artist-in-residence at Spotify, a company where he was an early investor. Beyond music, D.A. invests in and advises several start-up technology companies, including Synthego, Glypse Bio, Beam Therapeutics, SpaceX, Ripple. Forbes selected D.A. as one of its 30 Under 30, and Fast Company named him one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. In 2015, he launched Inevitable Ventures, an investment partnership with multibillionaire Ron Burkle that supports radical entrepreneurs in areas including health care, life sciences, and financial technologies. He is also an advisor to The Dreamers Fund, a partnership with actor Will Smith. Connect with D.A.: @dawallach Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2019 this October 1-3! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Tom Dierking, design director of transformational platform technologies at Procter & Gamble. John will be talking to Tom about his passion for transforming the consumer experience, Procter & Gamble’s revolutionary line of water-free products, and where he sees synthetic biology impacting the way that consumer brands do business. Tom Dierking is the global design director of innovation capability at Procter & Gamble (P&G). He’s a passionate advocate of design and has been driving multidisciplinary innovation for over 20 years. In leading innovation at one of the world’s top brands, Tom’s work touches the lives of millions of us. Tom is especially focused on design-inspired innovation and bringing new experiences to consumers. Tom works with Procter & Gamble’s senior leadership, leveraging design thinking on brands and company strategy initiatives, and delivering design-inspired changes to improve operations across the company. Thanks to Procter & Gamble (@ProcterGamble) for making this episode possible. Connect with Tom Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2019 this October 1-3! Click here for more information.

For the pictures John and Eben reference check out our website article (https://synbiobeta.com/synbiobeta-podcast-the-mycelium-revolution/) Today John Cumbers talks with Eben Bayer, CEO and Co-Founder of the biomaterials company Ecovative. He’ll be talking with Eben about: Ecovative is a world-leading biomaterials company that is adapting natural processes to create sustainable materials. Eben has evangelized a strategy of bio-adaptation around the world, including presentations at TED Global, PopTech, and Davos. Ecovative has been recognized as a Tech Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, for its potential impact on climate change by the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge, the EPA Environmental Quality Award, and the Buckminster Fuller Challenge for socially responsible design. Thanks to Ecovative (@ecovative) for making this episode possible. Connect with Eben: @ebanbayer Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2019 this October 1-3! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Ali Tamaseb, an investor at the venture firm DCVC. John will be talking to Ali about his technical strategy for finding super-founders, emerging challenges for founders, particularly in synthetic biology, and what emerging market he is most excited about these days. Ali is an entrepreneur, a previous startup founder, and a highly technical academic researcher. Ali has walked in the shoes of the scientist-turned-entrepreneur, and has first-hand experience with the challenges they face. At DCVC, he works on a broad spectrum of areas ranging from computational health and bio to cybersecurity. Ali received his Biomedical Engineering degree from Imperial College London, and he also graduated from the SIGM program at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He did research in the fields of neuroscience and human-computer interaction. Ali was an honoree of the British Alumni Award, and Imperial College President’s Medal for Outstanding Achievement. His work has been featured in BBC, Guardian, Forbes, The Telegraph, TEDx, and others. Thanks to DCVC (@DCVC) for making this episode possible. Connect with Ali: @alitamaseb Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2019 this October 1-3! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks with Dr. Santanu Dasgupta, Senior Vice President and Head of Biology at Reliance Industries Limited. John will be talking to Santanu about why algae is a great engineering platform, Reliance’s role in India’s arts, culture, and urban renewal, and the challenges to building the synthetic biology community in India Santanu has more than 25 years in biotechnology research experience in various leadership roles. He has led many breakthrough global agriculture biotechnology programs, and has contributed to the discovery of numerous plant traits. He’s the author of several peer-reviewed papers and is the inventor of more than twenty US patents in the area of pathogen resistance in plants, drought tolerance, gene expression, and improved algae. Santanu has also contributed papers in over 100 National and international meetings and symposium. Thanks to Reliance for making this episode possible. Connect with Santanu: https://in.linkedin.com/in/santanudasgupta Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2019 this October 1-3! Click here for more information.

Today John Cumbers talks to Dr. Christina Agapakis, biologist, writer, artist, and Creative Director at Ginkgo Bioworks. John will be talking to Christina about the role of creativity and design in biotechnology, what are Ginkgo’s top aims in terms of technology and its culture, and what kinds of opportunities she is most excited about today. Christina serves as creative director at Ginkgo Bioworks, an organism design company that is bringing biology to industrial engineering. In that role, she collaborates with engineers, designers, artists, and social scientists to explore the many unexpected connections between microbiology, technology, art, and popular culture. Her graduate work at Harvard focused on producing hydrogen fuel in bacteria and making photosynthetic animals. She has taught designers at the Art Center College of Design and biomolecular engineers at UCLA, and once made cheese using bacteria from the human body. She is a prolific writer on biology, technology, and culture for a number of outlets. She’s also a founding editor of Method Quarterly, a magazine about science in the making. Thanks to Ginkgo (@ginkgo) for making this episode possible. Connect with Christina: @thisischristina Connect with John: @johncumbers Stay updated on the latest news in synthetic biology, check out our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook Be sure you make it to SynBioBeta 2019 this October 1-3! Click here for more information.