Frameshifts with Benjamin Arya – Details, episodes & analysis

In this week’s episode, I sit down with Francisco LePort and Martin Borch Jensen, the co-founders of Gordian Biotechnology. Gordian is revolutionizing drug discovery by testing where it matters most… directly in living organisms. We discuss their groundbreaking approach of pooled in vivo screening that transforms a single organism into thousands of parallel experiments, and how this could fundamentally change our approach to studying age-related diseases.

Francisco and Martin believe that traditional anti-aging drug discovery has been ignoring the biology of aging itself. Instead of testing drugs in mice (equivalent to studying osteoarthritis in 25-year-olds), they are using actual horses that developed arthritis naturally and thus better represent aging as it actually manifests. Their early results suggest we might be on the cusp of a new era where we can finally address the root causes of multiple age-related diseases simultaneously.

This episode covers:

* Why aging research ignores actual aging biology, and how this kills drug development

* How to do the work of 10,000+ animal studies in a single experiment using gene therapy and single-cell sequencing

* How Francisco & Martin deliberately “killed their ambition” to go after aging directly

* The policy disasters strangling US biotech innovation (and why China’s gaining ground)

* How failed clinical trials waste billions in data that never gets analyzed

And in case you’re short on time, here’s a quick teaser:

Watch on YouTube; listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

GUEST INFORMATION:

* Francisco LePort

* Martin Borch Jensen

* An Autocrine Signaling Circuit In Hepatic Stellate Cells Underlies Advanced Fibrosis In Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

* In-Vivo Pooled Screening

* Gordion Biotechnology

CONNECT WITH US:

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* X (Twitter)

* LinkedIn

* TikTok

In this week's episode, I sit down with Prof. Ron Weiss, the MIT pioneer who helped create the field of synthetic biology. We discussed the emergence of living therapeutics that can think, adapt, and make complex decisions inside the human body. The implications of this stretch from synthetic cells within implantable biosensors that can produce insulin based on real-time glucose sensing to self-amplifying RNAs encoding gene circuits that specifically detect and kill cancer cells.

Ron believes the future of medicine lies in treating biological systems as sophisticated analog computers… systems we can learn to program. While this may still seem like a distant future, the first therapeutic fruits of this approach are already on their way to the market.

And in case you’re short on time, here’s a quick teaser on the “REACT” ARPA-H project that Ron’s lab is working on:

Watch on YouTube; listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

GUEST INFORMATION:

* Prof. Ron Weiss

* Weiss Lab for Synthetic Biology

* Programming gene and engineered-cell therapies with synthetic biology

* PERSIST platform provides programmable RNA regulation using CRISPR endoRNases

* Synthetic neuromorphic computing in living cells

* Linkedin

CONNECT WITH US:

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* Substack

* YouTube

* X (Twitter)

* LinkedIn

* TikTok

Ever wondered how blockchain technology can shape our future? Dive into the captivating world of blockchain and fintech with Liam Bussell, Chief Marketing Officer at CloudTech Group, and a passionate advocate for global crypto adoption.

Join us as we uncover Liam's journey from humble beginnings with just 3 bitcoins to his role as a thought leader in the blockchain space. Discover his insights on navigating uncertainty, building better user experiences, and the critical steps needed for blockchain to go mainstream.

Subscribe to Insane Ambition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube to catch Liam's episode and gain exclusive access to expert discussions on fintech, innovation, and the future of technology.

#BlockchainInnovation #FintechInsights #CryptoAdoption #CloudTechPodcast #BlockchainFuture

Venture capital may sound glamorous, but as Hunter Watkin knows, "statistically, the vast majority of startups will fail.” So how does Hunter, a VC at Rampersand, identify the unicorns among the litany of early-stage startups that slide into his email inbox?

For Hunter, being a VC is about much more than just getting a high ROI. It's about empowering wildly ambitious founders to build the future.

Follow Insane Ambition on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. Subscribe via https://insaneambition.beehiiv.com.

#insaneambition #podcast #entrepreneurship #success #investment #venturecapital

Harry Al-Wassiti is a visionary bioengineer. More than 14 years after leaving war-torn Iraq, he is now spearheading Australia's mRNA therapeutic program.

Harry believed in mRNA therapeutics well before they became mainstream via the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. In 2019, he published a Medium article advocating for mRNA-based therapeutics just months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But new medicines are useless without the ability to build them affordably and at scale.

There is this essential marriage of innovation and manufacturing, “We’re developing amazing medicines, but their deployment hinges on solving manufacturing issues.”

For a country that too often outsources its most complex manufacturing processes to China and the US, we need someone like Harry in Australia to be thinking about the machine that builds the machine. After all, having mRNA manufacturing facilities within our borders is a national security issue.

Tune in to this conversation on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube. Subscribe via https://insaneambition.com/.

Neurons are fundamental to biological systems and critical to human function. Can we teach neurons to perform computational intelligence tasks? Will our human abilities be enhanced in the near future?

Tune in to discover how Hon Weng Chong, Founder of Cortical Labs, went from medical doctor to biotech entrepreneur building DishBrain, the $10 million innovation that fuses brain cells with computers. Together, we'll explore the exciting possibilities of human neurons and artificial neural networks collaborating to solve society's toughest challenges.

Follow Insane Ambition on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube. Subscribe via https://insaneambition.com/.

We've been through the years of COVID19 and the debates about the safety and efficacy of medicines and vaccines. There is no doubt that biotech companies like Pfizer, Bayer and CSL have shaped our world.

Join us as we speak to Andrew Nash, Chief Scientific Officer of CSL Limited, Australia’s largest biotech company. Together we explore what led him to dedicate his life to science, and why he believes biotechnology will change our future.

Follow Insane Ambition on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube. Subscribe via https://insaneambition.com/.

Decades before technologies like ChatGPT and LLMs gained widespread attention, Eduard Hovy decided to undertake a PhD in AI and Computer Science at Yale University.

More than just 40,000 lines of code… what if he could build something that could resemble a form of intelligence?

Join us in conversation with Prof Eduard Hovy, the Executive Director of Melbourne Connect and Professor at the University of Melbourne. Eduard is now dedicated to bridging the gap between university research and real-world commercialisation.

In this episode, Eduard shares profound insights garnered over decades of navigating the AI and NLP landscape, well before technologies like ChatGPT gained widespread popularity, and how the enduring interest and enthusiasm keep him at the forefront of innovation.

Follow Insane Ambition on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube. Subscribe via https://insaneambition.com/.

Do you trust the government? Have you ever questioned your influence on decision-making, or wondered how to make your voice heard more?

Eddie Kowalski, researcher and founder of OurVoice, asked the same questions and is now at the forefront of redefining the landscape of democracy. In this episode, Eddie reveals the challenges of elevating political and civic engagement, and how he believes technology can help ensure that every voice carries weight.

Follow Insane Ambition on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube. Subscribe via https://insaneambition.com/.

“What I wanted to do was harness evolution as effectively as possible.”

In this episode, I sit down with pioneering synthetic biologist Kevin Esvelt. Together, we explore how technologies like gene drives and phage-assisted continuous evolution could help tackle humanity’s toughest challenges, from eradicating malaria to protecting global food security. We also dig into the urgent need to safeguard biotechnology against misuse.

This is a conversation about the future of science, biosecurity, and society, and how we can harness biology safely to create a healthier, more equitable world.

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GUEST INFORMATION:

Prof. Kevin Esvelt

Sculpting Evolution Group at MIT

The Original PACE Paper (Nature, 2011)

Gene Drives Paper (eLife, 2014)

X (Twitter)

CONNECT WITH US:

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