Advances in Biotech: Bridging Technology and Genetics
Startup Series: Introduction, Agriculture, and Biomedical Engineering startup profiles
The Landscape
Advances in biotechnology are revolutionizing the healthcare, agricultural, and industrial sectors. These changes are being driven by expanding healthcare requirements, technology breakthroughs, government initiatives, and strategic benefits.
Understanding the basics
Biotech involves the use of biological processes, living organisms, or their components to develop products and technologies with a variety of applications.
Biotech advancements are revolutionizing the medical field by allowing for the creation of new medicines and treatments, as well as revolutionizing healthcare with personalized medicine.
Biotech in agriculture increases crop output, enhances food quality, and helps in resolving the problem of food security as our world population increases. Also, it is beneficial to the sustainability of the environment by providing methods for controlling pollution, renewable energy sources, and bioremediation.
Biotechnology is important for the advancement of industrial techniques, offering sustainable solutions in the production of goods, and aiding in the formation of environmentally friendly products.
It plays a key role in the improvement of forensic science and genetic analysis, providing the necessary resources for the police and the judicial system. It makes it possible to carry out accurate and effective DNA analysis, which is a great help in the investigation of criminal cases, the recognition of genetic diseases, and the determination of paternity.
Drivers behind the growth of biotech
Healthcare Demand: The necessity for more healthcare worldwide to provide treatments and therapies for illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and genetic conditions is growing.
Digital Transformation: The analysis of biological data is improved through the incorporation of data science, AI, and machine learning.
Technological innovation: advances in CRISPR gene editing, more powerful computing, and sophisticated bioprocessing techniques have been achieved.
Environmental Sustainability: eco-friendly approaches, like genetically engineered crops and biofuels, to handle food supply issues and lessen the environmental effect of agricultural production and energy generation.
Government policies and funding: Government initiatives, subsidies, and investments in biotechnology research and development.
Strategic Advantage: Biotech products that are well-crafted can give organizations an ongoing competitive advantage and bolster long-term prosperity.
Exploring the breakthroughs in biotechnology in the past hundred years
Technology in biotechnology has advanced continuously, from the invention of penicillin to the recent development of DNA editing, pushing healthcare and genetics to the next level.
Biotech boosts efficiency, reduces costs, and promotes sustainability
Biotech advances are helping to reduce costs, give companies an edge over their competitors, and increase efficiency in many areas by improving manufacturing processes, developing bespoke goods, and creating reliable supply networks.
Cost Reduction
Streamlined manufacturing processes: Organizations can use genetically modified organisms to maximize their manufacturing procedures in order to create advantageous products such as enzymes and biofuels, thereby minimizing the need for intricate and expensive chemical synthesis.
Reduced waste: Aid in minimizing waste output and making the most of byproducts, which leads to cost reductions and greater sustainability for industries such as food production and bioenergy.
Product development
Customized solutions: Businesses can create custom-made goods to satisfy special market needs, like individualized medications and biodegradable plastics.
Diverse product range: It opens up the possibility of creating a variety of products, from drugs to biofuels, which can diversify a business's assortment and offer the potential to gain access to new markets.
Competitive Advantage
Intellectual property: Innovating biotech processes or products can grant exclusive rights through patents, allowing a business to gain an advantage over their competition and increase their income through licensing.
Market share gain: Biotech advancements that have achieved success, particularly those with strong patent protection, can draw a lot of customers and capture a big share of the market, leading to greater success for the company.
Supply Chain Resilience
Localized production: This allows for the manufacture of goods and materials previously brought from foreign sources, thereby diminishing the risks associated with international supply chains.
Resource substitution: Companies can come up with substitutes for scarce or costly materials, helping to ensure an even supply line and reducing potential danger.
Efficiency and sustainability
Resource efficiency: Usually requiring fewer original components while being able to take advantage of renewable sources, this can minimize reliance on non-renewable sources and decrease expenses.
Environmental impact: Solutions are being created to be more environmentally conscious, such as biodegradable plastics or more efficient production methods, to support global sustainability objectives.
Biotech's primary areas and related fields in focus
Biotech is pioneering groundbreaking changes in agriculture, cellular studies, and neurotech, revolutionizing entire markets and promoting sustainable outcomes.
Agriculture: Crops that have been altered through genetic engineering, cultivation methods, precision farming, organic fertilizers, and additives for animal feed.
Food and Beverages: Alternative agricultural practices such as air farming, alternative sources of protein, cellular agriculture, and nutrigenomic research.
Biomedical Engineering: Bioinformatics, biomedical engineering, bioprinting, nanotechnology in medicine, and the manufacture of biological materials.
Genomic Research: The application of Artificial Intelligence to the development of new medicines, along with gene-based therapies, editing, sequencing, and the use of personalized treatments.
Cellular Research: Manufacturing of cellular treatments, longevity, mending through regenerative treatments, and stem cell therapies.
Environment: The development of biomanufacturing, bioremediation, plastic substitutes, energy production from waste, and wastewater processing.
Neurotechnology: brain-computer interfaces, micro-robots for brain surgery, Neural activity monitoring, neuropharmacology, and precision neuroscience.
Synthetic Biology: Biofuel production, DNA synthesis, enzyme production, industrial chemicals, and microbiome engineering.
Agriculture
Biotech uses genetic engineering, data analytics, and microbial solutions to increase crop yields and resource efficiency. This includes innovations like genetically modified organisms and precision agriculture to improve resource management.
Agriculture Subdomains
Biofertilizers
Microorganisms in the soil increase the availability of nutrients, which helps plants thrive and be healthy. This encourages agricultural sustainability, lessening the need for chemical fertilizers and favoring environmentally sound farming practices.
Crop management
The emphasis is on improving agricultural procedures, including methods such as crop rotation, irrigation management, and holistic pest management.
Feed supplements
It can involve the use of genetically modified components, probiotics, or digestive enzymes to boost certain characteristics of animal feed to improve agricultural productivity and the quality of animal-derived foods in the food supply system.
Genetically modified crops (GM crops)
Involves genetically modifying crops to enhance traits such as pest resistance, drought tolerance, and nutritional content.
Precision agriculture
Data-driven technologies such as GPS, sensors, and remote sensing optimize farm management with site-specific information.
Agriculture Startup Profiles
Kula Bio
Kula Bio specializes in developing sustainable and biological solutions for modern agriculture. Their solution energizes nitrogen-fixing microbes to produce organic fertilizer. The company's product is designed to boost the activity of soil nitrogen-fixing bacteria, enabling them to store energy derived from renewable sources.
Sector: Chemicals
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2018
Total Funding: $71.22 million
Latest Funding: $50 million
Latest Series: Series A
Key Offerings: Kula Bio offers Kula-N, a sustainable nitrogen biofertilizer. This product helps farmers maintain crop yields, enhance soil health, and minimize carbon emissions and other environmental impacts associated with traditional synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Kula-N is pathogen-free and can be easily applied to fields using common irrigation methods.
Recent Updates:
December 2020: Kula Bio was selected as a top 50 company in Agriculture and Nutrition in 2021 by The Daily Digest.
August 2019: Prof. Molly Jahn from UW-Madison joined Kula Bio as a Scientific Advisory Board member
Invaio Sciences
Invaio Sciences is an agriculture biotech company focused on managing plant pests and pathogens, preventing crop diseases, and reducing pesticide usage. The company aims to advance technologies for crop protection, sustainability, and improved productivity. It operates in the sub-domain of crop management.
Sector: Agriculture and Forestry
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2018
Total Funding: $88.9 million
Latest Funding: $88.9 million
Latest Series: Series C
Key Offerings:
Trecise: Technology using micro-delivery tips for efficient substance delivery to a tree's vascular system.
Biological Delivery Systems: Nature-derived lipid nanoparticles (NLPs) for enhanced bioactive uptake in soil and plants, targeting plant and pest environments.
Recent Updates:
August 2023: Secured the first registration for a citrus greening solution with Trecise technology.
May 2021: Partnership with Fundecitrus to evaluate natural peptides for Citrus Greening control.
July 2020: Partnership with UC-Riverside for technology controlling Citrus Greening pathogens
Mootral
Mootral Ltd operates in the sub-domain of feed supplements, focusing on sustainable agriculture. The company's goal is to reduce methane emissions from livestock and mitigate the environmental impact of animal farming. Mootral is dedicated to combating climate change and promoting sustainable farming practices.
Sector: Agriculture and Forestry
Headquarters: Switzerland
Founded: 2018
Total Funding: $7.62 million
Latest Funding: $7.62 million
Latest Series: Not specified
Key Offerings:
Enterix: A natural feed supplement that reduces methane emissions from cattle, enhances animal health, and improves milk production.
Xaloo: A feed solution developed to promote gut health in poultry, piglets, calves, and rabbits. It applies Mootral’s proprietary blend of phytogenics for nutrient absorption and immune response.
Recent Updates:
October 2023: Hosted an event discussing sustainable agriculture and the UK's Net Zero goals.
August 2023: Partnered with Ruby Violet to launch MaxiMootral, a climate-friendly ice cream.
Inari Agriculture
Inari is a plant-breeding technology company in the GM crops sub-domain. It combines biological and data sciences to develop seeds that require fewer resources to grow food and feed. The company leverages CRISPR gene editing techniques to create seeds adaptable to local environments and resistant to pests and diseases.
Sector: Agriculture and Forestry
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2016
Total Funding: $461 million
Latest Funding: $124 million
Latest Series: Series E
Key Offerings: SEEDesign platform, which combines predictive design and advanced gene editing techniques to create seeds that use fewer resources and are cost-efficient.
Recent Updates:
February 2022: Strategic collaboration with InterGrain to improve wheat yield potential.
May 2021: Partnership with M.S. Technologies to use genetic resources from Stine's soybean breeding program.
Precision Fermentation
Enterix is a Precision Fermentation specializes in advanced fermentation monitoring and control solutions. The company aids in optimizing fermentation processes, enhancing product quality and efficiency, and reducing production costs. Its technology enables real-time control for data-driven decision-making.
Sector: Technology and Communications
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2019
Total Funding: $6.5 million
Latest Funding: $2 million
Latest Series: Not specified
Key Offerings: BrewIQ, a real-time fermentation monitoring and analysis tool designed for brewers. It leverages IoT technology to collect data from fermentation tanks, enabling better control, improved product quality, and cost savings.
Recent Updates:
June 2023: Secured two patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for real-time instrumentation, monitoring, and analysis used in the BrewIQ platform.
January 2023: Introduced BrewIQ, providing brewers with real-time fermentation oversight, automated alerts, and data analysis for enhanced large-scale production efficiency and profitability.
Biomedical engineering
This field combines the fundamentals and strategies of engineering with medicine and biology. It brings together the specialties of multiple disciplines to create and improve medical devices, equipment, and software.
Sub-domains in biomedical engineering
Bioinformatics
Leverages computational tools to analyze biological data to accelerate genomic research and personalized medicine.
Biomedical devices
Encompassing medical-engineered tools ranging from diagnostic devices to implantable prosthetics.
Bioprinting
Employs 3D printing techniques to fabricate intricate living structures, including the production of organs.
Nanomedicine
Combines biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering for precise diagnostics and targeted therapies. It manipulates materials at the nanoscale to enhance drug delivery systems, imaging technologies, and diagnostic tools.
Tissue engineering
This approach melds engineering principles with the life sciences to build functional biological tissues, providing potential solutions for organ transplantation and tissue repair.
Biomedical Engineering Startups
Colossal Biosciences
Colossal Biosciences is a genetic engineering company that builds technologies to advance genomics, focusing on extinct species restoration and restoring vital ecosystems. The company is using CRISPR gene editing technology with an ambitious goal to bring the mammoth back from extinction by 2027.
Sector: Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2021
Total Funding: $255 million
Latest Funding: $150 million
Latest Series: Series B
Key Offerings: De-extinction research, including developing a library of genetic DNA/embryos from endangered animals and creating software, wetware, and hardware devices for de-extinction projects.
Recent Updates:
October 2023: Announced plans to breed a tiny Australian lizard that is near extinction.
September 2023: Partnered with BioRescue to save the northern white rhino.
July 2023: Partnered with Elephant Havens Wildlife Foundation for reintroducing orphan elephants back into the wild.
Q Bio
Q Bio offers a platform that combines vital signs and biochemistry data for creating digital twins and personalized health predictions using Large Biological Models on a population-wide level. Its products, Mark I and Anatomical Foundation Model (AFM), are under research protocol and have not yet been approved by the FDA.
Sector: Medical Equipment
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2015
Total Funding: $40 million
Latest Funding: $40 million
Latest Series: Series B
Key Offerings:
Gemini: Integrates health data to generate a digital twin that maps and monitors health comprehensively, providing personalized health forecasts and recommendations.
Mark I: Autonomously scans the entire body, providing comprehensive quantitative anatomical data without radiation, breath holds, or claustrophobia.
Anatomical Foundation Model (AFM): Aims to automate the triage of scans needing human review.
Recent Updates:
August 2023: Announced the Beta version of Gemini, a comprehensive clinical digital twin platform.
June 2023: Added a dashboard search feature to the Gemini platform for finding biomarkers or images from extensive longitudinal profiles.
Prellis Biologics
Prellis Biologics is an organ and tissue engineering company that specializes in the sub-domain of bioprinting. It uses proprietary bioprinting technology to recreate and engineer human tissues in vitro. The company employs holographic printing technology to design 3D-printed lymph node organoids (LNOs) that mimic human immunobiology, allowing direct access to a fully functional human immune system.
Sector: Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2016
Total Funding: $96.74 million
Latest Funding: $35 million
Latest Series: Series C
Key Offerings: Externalized Immune System (EXIS), which recreates human immunobiology outside the body through LNOs. These organoids facilitate antibody discovery, immunogenicity assessment, and vaccine development.
Recent Updates:
March 2022: Collaboration and license option agreement with Sanofi SA for antibody discovery using EXIS.
January 2022: Partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb to build human antibody libraries.
Capstan Therapeutics
Capstan Therapeutics provides a targeted delivery platform to reprogram immune cells in the body. The company's technology aims to address diseases through two strategies: engineering immune cells and targeting pathogenic cells.
Sector: Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2021
Total Funding: $165 million
Latest Funding: $102 million
Latest Series: Series A
Key Offerings: Targeted lipid nanoparticles platform (tLNPs), consisting of LNPs linked with a recombinant protein binder, such as a monoclonal antibody. These structures are designed to deliver payloads ranging from mRNA to gene editing tools, with the ability to reprogram specific cell types within the body.
Recent Updates:
October 2023: Capstan Therapeutics’ co-founder Drew Weissman was awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries in nucleoside base modifications.
October 2023: Presented preclinical data at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting, demonstrating rapid and robust anti-tumor and anti-primary B cell activity in humanized mice.
Satellite Bio
Satellite Bio develops tissue implants designed to repair, restore, or replace diseased organs through implantable satellite organs. The company focuses on providing advanced regenerative medicine solutions for critical diseases, offering tissue therapeutics to replace organ and tissue systems that break down during disease progression.
Sector: Medical Equipment
Headquarters: United States
Founded: 2019
Total Funding: $211.4 million
Latest Funding: $110 million
Latest Series: Series A
Key Offerings: Satellite Adaptive Tissue (SAT) platform, which programs cells and assembles them into novel implantable therapies called Satellites. These therapies can be introduced to patients to repair, restore, or even replace dysfunctional or diseased tissue or organs.
Recent Updates:
April 2022: Unveiled tissue therapeutics and bioengineered tissues that repair, restore, or replace critical organ or tissue function.
In the next volumes of this series, we will explore Cellular research, Environment, Food and drink, Genomic research, Neurotechnology, and Synthetic biology areas.