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The Synthetic Biology Startup Ecosystem in the US
David RejeskiGlobal FellowWilson Center
Washington, DC
1
The Platform Value Now project, funded by Finland’s Strategic Research Council, focuses on understanding fast emerging
platform ecosystems, their value creation dynamics and requirements of the
supportive institutional environment.
Type 2 innovation platform: “consists of technological building blocks that are used as a foundation on top of which a large number of innovators can develop complementary services or products.”
Synthetic Biology As An Innovation Platform
Synthetic biology is a maturing scientific discipline that combines science and engineering in order to design and build novel biological functions and systems. This includes the design and construction of new biological
parts, devices, and systems.
Growth of Synthetic Biology Firms in the US
Data: Synbio Beta
Eric Schmidt
Sam AltmanPeter Thiel Tim
O’ReillyBill Gates
IT Investors Turned Synthetic Biology Investors
3-4 years ago: $10 million investmentsGrew to: $30-40 millionApproaching: $80 million and above
“Synthetic-biology firms….have raised a record-breaking US $560.7 million this year. 24 newly created synthetic-
biology companies have raised funding in 2015, compared to fewer than 6 in 2012.” Nature, November 2015
1996 2006 2016
How Did This Happen?
Bottoms up (no national strategy)Self organizing, open system
Champions with a powerful vision (engineering biology)Trading zones/creating a common language
Education & workforce preparationCommunity/network building
20 years (no quick fix)Some luck
1996
Woods HoleMassachusettsAugust,1996
2006 2016
36 participants:DARPA
NSFHarvard
YaleMIT
U. ChicagoStanford
Whitehead
First Distribution of Standardized Biological Parts
1996 2006 2016
Biobricks
London Science Museum
Synthetic Biology Open Language
“Tired of Evolving? Make New Friends”
1996 2006 2016
Reshma ShettyNow PresidentGingoBioworks
Woods HoleMassachusettsAugust, 2003
1996 2006 2016
34 participants:DARPA
NSFHarvard
YaleMIT
PrincetonStanford
Johns HopkinsCalTech
DukeMichigan
KEY CONCEPTS
1.Standardization of components
2. Component abstraction
3. Decoupling of design and fabrication
International Genetically Engineered Machines
Competition 2004, National Science Foundation funds teams from 6 universities
“Our goal was to kickstart a billion dollar industry.” Randy Rettberg
> 24,000 parts
Teams add >1,000 new parts per year
5,000 students annually, 300 teams, 150 judges, over 40 countries from 6 continents
2015
1996 2006 2016
SB1.0 and Beyond
1996 2006 2016
“We needed to create a cultural frame to operate…that is was ok to practice research in this area.” Drew Endy, Stanford
"Two groups can agree on rules of exchange even if they ascribe utterly different significance to the objects being exchanged….In an even more
sophisticated way, cultures in interaction frequently establish contact languages, systems of discourse
that can vary from the most function-specific jargons, …..to full-fledged creoles"
Peter Galison,Harvard, Image and Logic
Synthetic Biology Became A Trading Zone
Semantic networkanalysis
Web of Science
Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center - SynBERC
1996 2006 2016
“Our research program is creating the enabling tools and technologies that will give rise to many bio-based applications in the coming years.”
- $37.4 million for 10 years- $100 -150,000 per year for bi-annual retreats
$45,000,000
$140,000,000
DARPAContract Research
National Science FoundationFundamental Research
Government Funding of Synthetic Biology Research
1996 2006 2016
The Network and Community Legacy
“You cannot create a technology alone. You need buy-in on the part of thousands of people and you need redundant academic programs and efforts in the industrial sector. The most important thing we did was community building; creating an excited group of students who understood the sector.” Tom Knight, MIT
The Idea Legacy: Design-Build-Test-Learn Cycle
DARPA
“These biofoundries operate at rates approximately 100X over the prior state of the art.” Biotechnology & Bioengineering, 2015
“The DBT cycle was transformational…it is driving the field.” Jack Newman
The Idea Legacy: Standardized Parts
http://igem.org/Registry
Educational Legacy
2016
Firms and Clusters
Bay Area Boston
ZymergenAmyris Bolt Threads
Pixar AnimationStudios
The more open a place is to new ideas and new people — in other words, the lower its entry barriers for human capital — the more talent it can capture.”
$
Time
StartupBarriers
(Money, Know-how)
Financing Ecosystems Lower Entry Barriers
Crowdfunded Capital
Crowdfunded Equity
Donor Driven
Incubator/Accelerator
CommunityLab
Community Bio Labs as Incubators
Will Canine takes a biology course at
GenSpace
Raises $1 million to
start
Novel Bio-ProductionRapid Design and
PrototypingCustom Organisms
Creating A New Bio-Production Ecosystem
Discovery Design-Build-Test Scale
DARPA
Increase the rateof discovery
Goal: Faster, cheaper, better DNA2 cents/base pair for DNA (3Xs cheaper)
“Biology becomes a computer science field”
2014: 5-7 times more experiments/person/day2016 goal: 15-20 times more experiments
Primary customers: academics and startups$25 million, two other rounds of funding
24hrs/7days
“We are a software company.”
Produce ‘drop-in’ biological-based production that others take
to scale and to market
“Any product, any organism”
- Software group- Factory operations- Development (science and business)
“We….would like to fulfill a promise of innovation in a space that hasn't seen
innovation at a regular clip,” CEO Dan Widmaier
The activity hub for the synthetic biology industry
Multiple entry points for engaging a growing global community (iGEM, SynbioBeta, SB meetings)
Disaggregation of business ecosystems provide new niches for value creation and startups
Educational materials/courses now exist to build and attract next generation workforce
Lower barriers to entry and new funding opportunities for start-ups
Opportunities
New skill ecosystems emerging at disciplinary intersections between biology, computation, and robotics
Rachel Haurwitz, President and CEO, Caribou Biosciences
Jason Kelly, Co-founder, Ginko Bioworks
Jack Newman, Co-founder, Zagaya, Chief Science Officer, Amyris
Emily Leproust, Chief Executive Officer, Twist Biosciences
Dan Widmaier, CEO and Co-founder, Bolt Threads
Patrick Westfall, Zymergen
Thanks to:
Jay Keasling, Professor or Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Bioengineering, University of California/Berkeley
Drew Endy, Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Stanford University
Pamela Silver, Professor of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School
Kris Prather, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, MIT
Jim Haseloff, Head, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge
Adam Arkin, Professor of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
Thanks to:
Partial listings
Thanks!
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