EBRC In Translation – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of EBRC In Translation, Talia Jacobson and Will Grubbe interview Jim Collins of MIT, a pioneer of synthetic biology. He reflects on his path from human biomechanics and early gene circuit design to AI-driven antibiotic discovery.

Collins discusses how deep learning is enabling new antibiotics despite market challenges, what makes research translation succeed, and the growing role of computation in biology. He also recounts developing RNA diagnostics and early CRISPR-based platforms like SHERLOCK, along with efforts to expand accessible infectious disease testing. Stay up to date with PHARE BIO for antibiotic discovery.

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode of EBRC In Translation, we are joined with Danielle Tullman-Ercek, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University and co-director of its Center for Synthetic Biology. Danielle discusses her journey from aspiring architect to leading bioengineer, the foundation and goals of her lab, the interdisciplinary approach at Northwestern's Center for Synthetic Biology, and the inception of her company, Opera Bioscience. She also shares insights on navigating academia and entrepreneurship, the impact of federal research funding challenges, and the importance of community and collaboration in scientific research. Keep updated with GRC Physics of Viruses and Protein Cages and ECI Biochemical and Molecular Engineering XXIV.

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode, we interview Geoffrey Otim, founder and CEO of SynBio Africa and founder of iGEM Makarere, the first iGEM team in East Africa. We discuss the unique health, agricultural, climate, biosecurity, and energy challenges being tackled by the emerging engineering biology community in Africa. We also talk about his policy advocacy, African Union-led initiatives, and the cultural, political, and funding headwinds faced by African scientists.

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode, we interview Dr. John Inglis and Dr. Richard Sever, the executive director and assistant director respectively of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. John and Richard also co-founded both bioRxiv and medRxiv, the primary preprint servers for biological and medical research. We discuss what makes the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press unique, how they founded bioRxiv and medRxiv, how preprinting allows us to do experiments on the publication system itself, and much more!

In the episode, John recommends a book on career options for biomedical scientists.

Note from the editor: Unfortunately, there were some minor issues with Richard's source audio which resulted in some occasional skipping. Our apologies for this!

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sean Simpson, strategic advisor and former CSO of LanzaTech. We talk with Sean about using biology to convert greenhouse gases into ethanol, how to scale up and sell a novel biological process, and the economic and policy requirements of engineering biology for global challenges.

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode, we interview Dr. Tony Kulesa, a Principal at the VC firm Pillar. We talk to Tony about his work to open source the biotech company creation process, overrated and underrated investment theses, reading and writing to all the different scales of biology and more!

To learn more about founder-led biotech, check out some of Tony's writing on the topic here.

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode, we speak with Melissa Takahashi, an Assistant Professor at California State University Northridge in the Department of Biology. We talk with Melissa about her research on the biological principles behind RNA gene regulation in bacteria, being a professor at a primarily undergraduate institution, helping students realize they can be scientists, and more!

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Mustafa Khammash, Professor of Control Theory and Systems Biology in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH-Zurich. We talk with Mustafa about integrating control theory into synthetic biology, designing computer/biology interfaces, starting a wet lab as a tenured computational professor, the need for new theoretical frameworks for biological design, and more!

Notes:

During the episode, Dr. Khammash references two different papers from his lab, linked below.

Cybergenetics: Theory and Applications of Genetic Control Systems

Universal structural requirements for maximal robust perfect adaptation in biomolecular networks

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode we’re joined by Eldora Ellison, PhD, director at law firm Sterne Kessler and lead patent strategist for the CVC group in the MIT-Berkeley CRISPR patent litigation. We discuss the long and winding road of filing and defending patents, what it’s like to go from PhD scientist to law firm partner, how biotechnology advances are challenging the world of patents, and more!

Links related to the episode:
Careers at Sterne Kessler
U.S. Biotechnology Patent Law by Jorge Goldstein

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.

In this episode, we interview Vineeta Agarwala, MD, PhD, a general partner at Andreesen Horowitz (a16z) where she leads investments in the group’s bio + health fund. We talk to Vineeta about investing in synthetic biology startup companies, a day in the life of a VC, following the good people, and more!

Disclosures:

The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. In addition, this content may include third-party advertisements; a16z has not reviewed such advertisements and does not endorse any advertising content contained therein.

This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

For more information about EBRC:

Visit our website at ebrc.org. If you are interested in getting involved with the EBRC Student and Postdoc Association, fill out a membership application for graduate students and postdocs or for undergraduates and join today!

Transcription:
Episode transcripts are the unedited output from Whisper and likely contain errors.