3 ms·
I'm trying to make micro-organisms that make fuel and drugs.
by BenS 18y ago
I'm trying to make micro-organisms that make fuel and drugs.
- bbgm 18y agoI am very curious. A synthetic biologist on Hacker News :)
- rms 18y agoThink you'll beat Craig Venter? Am curious if you are NIH funded, independently wealthy, etc.
- neilc 18y agoYou don't necessarily need to "beat" Venter -- startups are not a zero-sum game, especially in a field as early as synthetic biology.
- rms 18y agoI just see him as an extraordinary tough target with his portfolio of relevant patents and endless financial resources. There are rooms for others of course, and it's great that people are trying... I would if I had the resources. That or algae farms.
- bbgm 18y agoJCV is not the only big gun in the synbio field. Jay Keasling has started more than one company (e.g. Amyris).
- BenS 18y agoYou're right, The competition is definitely stiff - aside from craig, there's ls9, amyris, sapphire and a dozen other solid companies. On the upside, the market is very big, and the problem is certainly worth solving.
- rms 18y agoIf you solve it, do you think you'll get and accept an offer you can't refuse from the oil companies? Craig Venter seems to have already taken an offer that he couldn't refuse from said companies. Do you think anyone in the field is brave enough to go around the oil companies or is their distribution infrastructure too much to ignore?
- BenS 18y agoI think the goal is to create a new source of renewable energy. I think the right oil company could be part of the process...all that said, 'if you solve it' is a pretty big if :)
- falsestprophet 18y agoHey, I my research is heading in that direction. Maybe we can help each other out. (Although, I suspect I may not have much to offer yet.) Send me an email if you have time (purdue.edu walshmj). Thanks.
- cperciva 18y agoHow is what you're doing different from how insulin is manufactured (using yeast which has been genetically engineered to produce the relevant peptide)?