Start-ups with robots seek to scale up synthetic biology

2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (45) ◽  
pp. 18-22
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Start Ups

scholarly journals Developing synthetic biology for industrial biotechnology applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
Lionel Clarke ◽  
Richard Kitney
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Private Investment ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Industrial Biotechnology ◽  
Investment Activity ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
The Us ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
The Impact

Since the beginning of the 21st Century, synthetic biology has established itself as an effective technological approach to design and engineer biological systems. Whilst research and investment continues to develop the understanding, control and engineering infrastructural platforms necessary to tackle ever more challenging systems — and to increase the precision, robustness, speed and affordability of existing solutions — hundreds of start-up companies, predominantly in the US and UK, are already translating learnings and potential applications into commercially viable tools, services and products. Start-ups and SMEs have been the predominant channel for synthetic biology commercialisation to date, facilitating rapid response to changing societal interests and market pull arising from increasing awareness of health and global sustainability issues. Private investment in start-ups across the US and UK is increasing rapidly and now totals over $12bn. Health-related biotechnology applications have dominated the commercialisation of products to date, but significant opportunities for the production of bio-derived materials and chemicals, including consumer products, are now being developed. Synthetic biology start-ups developing tools and services account for between 10% (in the UK) and ∼25% (in the US) of private investment activity. Around 20% of synthetic biology start-ups address industrial biotechnology targets, but currently, only attract ∼11% private investment. Adopting a more networked approach — linking specialists, infrastructure and ongoing research to de-risk the economic challenges of scale-up and supported by an effective long-term funding strategy — is set to transform the impact of synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology in the bioeconomy.

scholarly journals Robustness testing and scalability of phosphate regulated promoters useful for two-stage autoinduction in E. coli

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eirik A Moreb ◽  
Zhixia Ye ◽  
John P Efromson ◽  
Jennifer N Hennigan ◽  
Romel Menacho-Melgar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Heterologous Protein ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Mineral Salts ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Robustness Testing ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Media Formulation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Regulated Promoters

A key challenge in synthetic biology is the successful utilization of characterized parts, such as promoters, in different biological contexts. We report the robustness testing of a small library of E. coli PhoB regulated promoters that enable heterologous protein production in two-stage cultures. Expression levels were measured both in a rich Autoinduction Broth as well as a minimal mineral salts media. Media dependent differences were promoter dependent. 4 out of 16 promoters tested were identified to have tightly controlled expression which was also robust to media formulation. Improved promoter robustness led to more predictable scale up and consistent expression in instrumented bioreactors. This subset of PhoB activated promoters, useful for two-stage autoinduction, highlight the impact of the environment on the performance of biological parts, and the importance of robustness testing in synthetic biology.

scholarly journals Biofoundries are a Nucleating Hub for Industrial Translation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tabasum Farzaneh ◽  
Paul S Freemont
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Systematic Design ◽  
Industrial Products ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
New Applications

Abstract Contemporary synthetic biology embraces the entire innovation pipeline; it’s a transformative technology platform impacting new applications and improving existing industrial products and processes. However, challenges still emerge at the interface of up-stream and down-stream processes, integral to the value chain. It is now clear that biofoundries have a key role to play in addressing this; they provide unique and accessible infrastructure to drive the standardization necessary to deliver systematic design and engineering of biological systems and workflows. As for other biofoundries, the success of the London Biofoundry has been in part due to its expertise in establishing channels for industrial translation through its extensive strategic collaborations. It has also become cemented as a key component of various consortia and partnerships that serve the broader bioeconomy and industrial strategies. Adopting a networked approach enables links to be made between infrastructure, researchers, industrialists and policy makers to de-risk the economic challenges of scale-up, as well as contribute to the growing bioeconomy.

Start-up Scale-up: Addressing the Manufacturing Challenge for Start-ups

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
William B. Bonvillian ◽  
Peter L. Singer
Keyword(s):  
Technology Development ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Entrepreneurial Firms ◽  
Production Scale ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
Development Gap

This chapter looks at a new but related problem: start-up scale-up. There is an additional and compounding innovation gap problem affecting start-ups that need to manufacture their products. While the advanced manufacturing institute model detailed in the previous chapter addresses innovation at large, midsize, and small manufacturing firms, to date it has largely focused on existing firms and has not encompassed new entrepreneurial start-ups. These start-up firms face not only an early-stage technology development gap, but also a production scale-up gap. Start-up scale-up is a problem in general, and particularly for manufacturing start-ups. This third category of firms, then, comprises the start-up and entrepreneurial firms that manufacture products based on their own new innovative technologies, typically emerging from university research centers.

scholarly journals Experiments in Relational Finance: Harnessing the Social in Everyday Debt and Credit

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Tooker ◽  
Chris Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
New World ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Development Organizations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Concern For Others ◽  
Social Lending ◽  
Start Ups

In the wake of successive crises, novel politics and ethics are emerging around attempts to institute a ‘new’ world of finance in the name of social relations. Financial start-ups and development organizations, often working alongside established financial institutions, are experimenting with the ‘social’ in order to create markets and scale up their activities. At the same time, people continue to advance social claims in finance out of concern for others. This article examines the rise, politics and ethics of this experimentation in what we call ‘relational finance’. Our argument is that by rendering the social dimensions of finance explicit, contemporary relational finance makes sociality available for marketization and politicization. We illustrate this claim with three examples of mobilizations of the social in everyday lending and borrowing: social collateral, social lending and social debt. Relational finance, we conclude, is far from an unproblematic ‘alternative’ but retains ethical and political potential.

scholarly journals Challenges of scaling-up process for start-ups

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Zajko
Keyword(s):  
Scale Up ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Secondary Survey ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
Start Ups

Abstract Start-up is just a beginning phase of a company life cycle followed by the growth or scaling phase where the growth potential of start-up can develop into a high-growth company bringing revenues, well-paid jobs and taxes. The purpose of the paper is to analyse the essence of scaling up and the relevant external and internal factors for successful scaling up. The research method consists in analysis of internal and external conditions for successful scaling up and related support policies in the EU and Slovakia based on the secondary survey data and relevant publications. The findings about the Slovak start-up ecosystem confirm the relevance of risks of scaling up for the Slovak startups too. Therefore next to the improving of the start-up ecosystem the Slovak policy makers should develop systematic support measures for the scale-up ecosystem in Slovakia based on appropriate scale up metrics and incentives for support of start-ups in order to achieve a higher proportion of gazelles in the economy.

scholarly journals Synthetic biology industry: data-driven design is creating new opportunities in biotechnology

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 651-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S. Freemont
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Industry Data ◽  
Crucial Point ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Design And Manufacturing ◽  
Genetic Level ◽  
Biotechnology Products ◽  
Start Ups

Synthetic biology is a rapidly emerging interdisciplinary research field that is primarily built upon foundational advances in molecular biology combined with engineering design. The field considers living systems as programmable at the genetic level and has been defined by the development of new platform technologies. This has spurned a rapid growth in start-up companies and the new synthetic biology industry is growing rapidly, with start-up companies receiving ∼$6.1B investment since 2015 and a global synthetic biology market value estimated to be $14B by 2026. Many of the new start-ups can be grouped within a multi-layer ‘technology stack’. The ‘stack’ comprises a number of technology layers which together can be applied to a diversity of new biotechnology applications like consumer biotechnology products and living therapies. The ‘stack’ also enables new commercial opportunities and value chains similar to the software design and manufacturing revolution of the 20th century. However, the synthetic biology industry is at a crucial point, as it now requires recognisable commercial successes in order for the industry to expand and scale, in terms of investment and companies. However, such expansion may directly challenge the ethos of synthetic biology, in terms of open technology sharing and democratisation, which could unintentionally lead to multi-national corporations and technology monopolies similar to the existing biotechnology/biopharma industry.

TRANSITION PROBABILITIES BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PHASES IN AFRICA’S EMERGING ECONOMIES: THE CASE OF NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (03) ◽  
pp. 1850016 ◽  
Author(s):  
FOLASHADE AKINYEMI ◽  
KALU OJAH
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Transition Probabilities ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Environmental Support ◽  
Venture Firms ◽  
Start Ups ◽  
Early Phases

Using cross-sectional data from 1148 structured questionnaires, administered in two key commercial hubs of Africa’s largest economies (609 from Lagos in Nigeria and 539 from Johannesburg in South Africa), we examine the volatility of venture firms, and particularly ascertain what life-cycle phases they are likely to transition out of quickly or sluggishly in the entrepreneurship process. Adopting GEM’s concept of entrepreneurship phases — conception, firm’s-birth, persistence, established and renowned phases — we find that the most volatile entrepreneurship phase in Nigeria is the conception phase while the conception and firm’s-birth phases are the most volatile in South Africa. The highest transition rate for start-ups in both countries occurs between the persistent and established phases. Overall, Nigeria’s start-ups have better prospects for progression than South Africa’s, and the transitioning differences between the two countries are attributable to differences in personality traits of the entrepreneurs. Therefore, governments seeking to influence likelihood of success at the more strategic phases of the entrepreneurship process should prioritize early phases while only channeling little of the scarce support funds to later-phases, especially when seeking to scale-up productive capabilities of emerging enterprises, in addition to encouraging personality traits that can compensate for inadequate environmental support for entrepreneurship.

scholarly journals Enhancing Saccharomyces cerevisiae Taxane Biosynthesis and Overcoming Nutritional Stress-Induced Pseudohyphal Growth

2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Laura Ellen Walls ◽  
José L. Martinez ◽  
Leonardo Rios-Solis
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Yeast Extract ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Nutritional Stress ◽  
Filamentous Growth ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Industrial Scale ◽  
Enhanced Production

The recent technological advancements in synthetic biology have demonstrated the extensive potential socio-economic benefits at laboratory scale. However, translations of such technologies to industrial scale fermentations remains a major bottleneck. The existence and lack of understanding of the major discrepancies in cultivation conditions between scales often leads to the selection of suboptimal bioprocessing conditions, crippling industrial scale productivity. In this study, strategic design of experiments approaches were coupled with state-of-the-art bioreactor tools to characterize and overcome nutritional stress for the enhanced production of precursors to the blockbuster chemotherapy drug, Taxol, in S. cerevisiae cell factories. The batch-to-batch variation in yeast extract composition was found to trigger nutritional stress at a mini-bioreactor scale, resulting in profound changes in cellular morphology and the inhibition of taxane production. The cells shifted from the typical budding morphology into striking pseudohyphal cells. Doubling initial yeast extract and peptone concentrations (2×YP) delayed filamentous growth, and taxane accumulation improved to 108 mg/L. Through coupling a statistical definitive screening design approach with the state-of-the-art high-throughput micro-bioreactors, the total taxane titers were improved a further two-fold, compared to the 2×YP culture, to 229 mg/L. Filamentous growth was absent in nutrient-limited microscale cultures, underlining the complex and multifactorial nature of yeast stress responses. Validation of the optimal microscale conditions in 1L bioreactors successfully alleviated nutritional stress and improved the titers to 387 mg/L. Production of the key Taxol precursor, T5αAc, was improved two-fold to 22 mg/L compared to previous maxima. The present study highlights the importance of following an interdisciplinary approach combining synthetic biology and bioprocessing technologies for effective process optimization and scale-up.

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