The Living Revolution

 Most of life science is reliant on the ability to grow the thing you want to study, this requires media. Media is the 'food' which cells use to grow and as such it is important that cells get the right nutrients to grow optimally. Dr. Rebecca Vaught talked with us about how she and her collegues at the Van Heron Labs are providing bespoke media products to many labs in order to maximise...

Programmable materials, living materials, cell-derived materials, these are all things we talk about in today's episode with Prof. Allen Liu. We discuss how the separate fields of Biomaterials and Synthetic Biology can come together to produce enhanced Biomaterials that can be tailored to have specific properties that could fix many problems. These living biomaterials are an exciting prospect...

Without the ability to synthesise DNA, biotechnology would not be a shred of what it is today. In this episode, Dr. John Gill talks to us about the future of DNA synthesis technology and how he and those working at CODEX DNA are trying to bring DNA synthesis to the lab bench. This will massively increase productivity by cutting down on time spent waiting for DNA to arrive from external producers....

Today we spoke with Dr. Jake Beal who is a scientist at BBN and a former researcher at MIT. He shared with us his incredible grasp on why it is important to improve measurements in synthetic biology research if we are going to create a predictable and repeatable engineering field out of biology. The realisation of this vision would allow for the rapid development of biotechnology solutions to the...

Dr. George Taylor talks with us about the cultivated meat industry and how synthetic biology can be used to accerlerate the adoption of this new form of food. Cultivated meat has the potential to be much more efficient than animal farming and of course avoids concerns for animal welfare and the ethics of factory farming. In singapore it is already possible to eat cultivated meat in a resteraunt an...

Dr. Fernando Guzman talks with us about Cell-free systems, a method for producing proteins without the laborious process of growing and harvesting cells. One of the main drawbacks of these cell-free systems is the cost, Dr. Guzman shared with us his research in trying to make these systems less expensive and thus more available in low and middle income countries. The benefit of this would be using...

 Prof. Roisin Owens tells us about her research into creating 3D biomimetic materials which can be used to model human systems such as the intestinal tract and the lungs. With these model systems we can learn many things about disease and treatments for those diseases. 

Dr. Michael Köpke & Prof. Michael Jewitt talk with us about their work on the carbon-negative production of acetone and isopropanol. These chemicals are currently produced from fossil derived carbon. In this new research waste gases from the chemical industry can be used, tho produce acetone and isopropanol helping us move one step closer to a more sustainable and circular economy.

Dr. Kerstin Göpfrich talks with us about her research into creating synthetic cells. We discuss DNA origami, where the line is drawn between synthetic and engineered cells, the ethics of producing synthetic cells and challenges faced by the field. 

 Prof. Ardemis Boghossian shares with us her research and knowledge into bioelectronics and related fields. This feels like science fiction, but it is research that is happening in laboratories right now. Some bacteria have been found to produce electons naturally, by learning from these organisms we have the ability to produce self-renewing biological materials that can harvest solar energy. 

Dr. Rodrigo Ledesma Amaro from Imperial College London shares insight into metabolic engineering, a field of study that allows us to control and manipulate the behavours of living organisms. With metabolic engineering tools we can harness organisms to cure diseases, create biomaterials, biofuels, recycle rare materials and even create 'living materials', for example self-healing concrete...

Biomanufacturing uses biology to produce valuable chemicals such as fragrances, food additives, platform chemicals and fuels. This means of manufacturing can use waste streams contributing to circular economy, reduce necessity for harsh chemicals and create milder reaction conditions. Sythetic Biology could play a large part in the success of this field,. and this is what we talked about in today&...

Today we discussed genetically engineering plants to improve foor security, nutrition and biofuel production with Proffesor Simon Turner from the Univeristy of Manchester. This podcast is brought to you by the Mancehster iGEM 2021 team with support from the Mancehster Institute of Biotechnology and the University of Manchester. Follow us on instagram to stay updated @igem_manchester2021

Today we talked with Prof. Loiuse Horsfall, the programme director for the master's in synthteic biology at the University of Edinburgh. She shared with us her knowledge of the field and we covered subjects such as what is synthetic biology and how can it be applied to obrtain and recycle rare earth metals. This podcast is brought to you by the manchester iGEM2021 team with support from the U...

Today we talk to students from King's College London about their project for the international synthetic biology competition known as iGEM. They are using synthetic biology to create a bioadhesive which will hold in place scaffolds that can be used to treat spinal cord injuries.

Today we talked with the University of St. Andrews iGEM team about their project which aims to use synthetic biology to replace harmful products that are currently found in sun creams. This area of synthetic biology can also be applied in much the same way to many other skin care and cosmetic products. This podcast is brought to you by the Manchester iGEM 2021 team with support from the Mancehster...

In today's episode, Prof. John Ward runs us through some exciting applications of synthetic biology and where the field might progress in the near future.   Professor John Ward is the programme director for MRes Synthetic Biology at University College London. He has an incredible set of expertise in the field and we are grateful he has taken the time to share this insight with us today.    Fo...

In today's episode we talk to Prof. John Ward, the programme director for MRes Synthetic Biology at University College London. He shared some incredible insights into what synthetic biology is and the technologies that are allowing the field to advance.   Follow us on instagram to stay updated on future episodes: https://www.instagram.com/igem_manchester2021/  Brought to you by Manchester iGE...