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.