The SynBioBeta Podcast

In this episode of the Podcast, SynBioBeta founder and CEO, John Cumbers, speaks with Harshal Chokhawala , co-founder and CEO of ZymoChem , about how the company is reengineering the foundations of materials science using microbial fermentation. Harshal discusses his scientific journey from organic chemistry to building a carbon-conserving biotech platform capable of producing bio-based adipic aci...

In this episode of the SynBioBeta Podcast, John Cumbers sits down with Shannon Hall, co-founder and CEO of Pow.bio , to talk about how her team is flipping traditional fermentation on its head. Pow.bio’s AI-enabled, continuous fermentation platform decouples cell growth from production—enabling higher yields, faster scale-up, and dramatically lower costs. Shannon shares what led her to leave a suc...

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...

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...

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 recen...

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 genera...

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.l...

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...

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 For...

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: Tw...

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 emer...

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 techn...

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...

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...

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 seq...

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 J...

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 u...

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 de...

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: Why mycelium is an ideal host not just for biochemical production but also biomaterials structuring. Eben’s conception of “b...

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 h...

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 e...

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 Biowo...

Today John Cumbers talks to Dr. Jenny Rooke, the founder and Managing Director of Genoa Ventures, and one of Silicon Valley’s leading venture capitalists in the synthetic biology industry. John will be talking to Jenny about how VCs assess the value and potential of firms, what it takes to start your own VC firm, and what kinds of opportunities she is most excited about today.   For over a decade,...

Today John Cumbers talks to Ursheet Parikh, partner at Mayfield and leader of their biotechnology and health care portfolios. The conversation is about what it takes to scale synthetic biology companies, some of the challenges they face, and how platform technologies in synthetic biology can help float all boats.   Ursheet is a proven repeat entrepreneur and executive who brings 15 years of produc...

Today John Cumbers talks to Alexandre Zanghellini, co-founder and CEO of Arzeda about Protein Design 101. Alex leads Arzeda’s product and technology development and IP strategy. He’s an inventor of Arzeda’s platform for computational protein design and more recently also branched into computational metabolic pathway design. Alex will introduce protein design, discuss automation and technical advan...