Reporting for WBUR, Karen Weintraub examines the biotech boom in Kendall Square. President Emerita Susan Hockfield notes that, “Every year there's a new wave of young people who arrive on our campuses and get inspired by what we do and then inspire us about what they'd like to do. I think that's part of the magic mix here.”
During this episode of NOVA Wonders, Professors Kristala Jones Prather and Kevin Esvelt discuss the future of genetic engineering. Speaking about the evolution of the biotech industry, Prather explains that, "the key observation that really fueled the entire biotech industry was recognizing that D.N.A. is really just a chemical, and the structure is what matters.”
MIT spinout Ginkgo Bioworks is highlighted on the 2018 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, reports CNBC’s Andrew Zaleski. Zaleski notes that Ginkgo Bioworks, “has developed an automated process for combining genetic parts that has made it the largest designer of printed DNA in the world. That breakthrough has positioned the start-up to change the face of a variety of industries.”
The Boston Globe’s Scott Kirsner discusses the impact of Cambridge biotech company Biogen, cofounded by Prof. Phil Sharp, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. “The company has become the biggest oak tree of the Massachusetts biotech sector,” writes Kirsner, “not only because it is still standing after four decades, but because it has dropped a lot of acorns.”
Alumni Keith Dionne and Frank Gentile, who met as graduate students in 1983, have launched a biotech company based on how cells detoxify and repair themselves, reports Jonathan Saltzman of The Boston Globe. Saltzman explains that by creating drugs to induce a process called autophagy, Dionne and Gentile hope to “help cells rid themselves of debris associated with diseases” like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
TechCrunch’s Devin Coldewey profiles ReviveMed, a biotech startup out of MIT that turns drug discovery into a big data problem. “ReviveMed’s approach is a fundamentally modern one that wouldn’t be possible just a few years ago, such is the scale of the data involved,” writes Coldeway.
Synlogic, founded by Prof. Jim Collins and Associate Prof. Tim Lu, is programming probiotic bacteria to treat certain genetic or acquired metabolic disease, reports Robin Seaton Jefferson for Forbes. One product is used for people whose bodies can’t maintain a healthy level of ammonia and “has been specifically engineered to convert the excess ammonia to a harmless metabolite,” explains Seaton Jefferson.
Co-founded by three alumni and a former professor, startup Ginkgo Bioworks uses genetic engineering to create an array of consumer and corporate products – all relying on socially conscious GMOs. The company, which is now partnering with Bayer, is “trying to reset the conversation around biotechnology: by foregrounding the benefits to consumers and advocating for transparency,” writes Sarah Zhang for The Atlantic.
MIT spinout Ginkgo Bioworks has not only maintained its founding members, but also recently raised $275 million from investors, writes Matthew Herper for Forbes. Herper predicts that excitement surrounding synthetic biology companies will continue because “private money is getting excited about the idea of designing biology.”
MIT Media Lab project, Biota Beats, collects bacteria from different parts of the body and turns it into music, reports Erin Blakemore from The Washington Post. “The team crowdsources swabs from body parts — including mouths, feet, and armpits — then cultures the microorganisms on petri dish-like ‘records,’” Blakemore writes.
Inverse reporter Dan Robitzski writes that MIT researchers have created a new gel-like coating that can be used to make medical devices feel more natural. The researchers, “developed the hydrogels to manufacture products that feel like the part of the body they contact — say, a catheter that feels like the inside of a urethra.”
Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme writes that MIT researchers have developed a new gel-like coating that can be used on medical devices like catheters and IV tubes to reduce friction and ease patient discomfort. The substance, “can be moved, stretched, and twisted without breaking, “Ducharme explains, and also, “acts as a lubricant for the objects it coats.”
Prof. Phillip Sharp speaks with WBUR’s Asma Khalid about how the Greater Boston area became a hub for the biotech industry. "I think one of the transformative parts of what the next 20 years will hold is engineering with medicine and biotech," Sharp explains, adding that he thinks the Greater Boston area is “ahead of that story."
During a panel discussion during the Koch Institute’s 16th Annual Cancer Research Symposium, participants discussed how the convergence of biology and engineering could accelerate treatments for cancer and other diseases, writes Robert Weisman for the Boston Globe. “To my mind, this is the 21st century’s innovation story,” said President Emerita Susan Hockfield.
MIT researchers have genetically engineered E.coli bacteria to replicate light and create images in a range of different colors, reports Alexandra-Simon Lewis for Wired. In the future, the technique could be used to make “bacteria produce more complex molecules on-demand by using light to stop and start chemical reactions.”