Francis Lister and Lucy McGowan headed to London last week to represent Science Creates at #SynbiTECH2024, the UK’s leading conference for engineering biology. The event opened with a keynote speech from Science Minister Lord Patrick Vallance, who emphasised the Government’s commitment to scaling engineering biology on a national level as well as recognising the importance of: ▪️Continued funding of early-stage research to drive new spinouts ▪️Strategic regional clusters throughout the UK ▪️Growing an expert talent pipeline through specialised training programmes like centres for doctoral training ▪️Thinking beyond the UK to attract global talent and investment ▪️Considering the everyday citizen behind the Government’s decision-making It was also great to hear both Science Creates and the wider Bristol innovation ecosystem mentioned by Lord Vallance as examples of places already actively working to scale this sector. A huge thank you to all the speakers and SynbiCITE for organising such a thought-provoking event, bringing together a community passionate about shaping the future of engineering biology. Continue reading below for more insights from Francis Lister on the event. #engbio #syntheticbiology #deeptech #scaleup
A fantastic start to #SynbiTECH2024 with keynotes from Lord Patrick Vallance and Antheia, Inc. CEO Christina Smolke followed by two brilliant panel discussions with industry leaders and UK-leading Engineering Biology entrepreneurs on scaling up and scaling success. Every speaker has shared loads of useful information so while there's already too much detail to summarise everything from this first day in one post, it's been absolutely great to hear both the government's commitment to the growth of Engineering Biology in the UK and the clarity in the strategy for the future. So, kicking off with my take homes from Patrick Vallance's keynote: 1. A clear focus and commitment from the government on solving the very real problems with scaling Eng Bio: infrastructure, regulation and investment landscape. Great to hear Science Creates mentioned as part of this! 2. Highlighting the essential need to continue funding the early stage research that empowers the growing number of spinouts in Eng Bio in the UK. 3. The importance of talent and the role of Eng Bio CDT programmes like EngBio Centre for Doctoral Training an exciting partnership between University of Bristol and the University of Oxford 4. Always remember the *citizen* behind the government's support and decision-making strategy. This is a big part of the “why" behind the government support of areas like Eng Bio. I.e. Outsized growth opportunities, more jobs, better healthcare options for all of society, and greener, healthier materials. 5. The importance of strategically-focused regional clusters in places like Bristol, Manchester, Norwich, Edinburgh, and the Golden Triangle. 6. (Great to hear) While the UK is well-placed to unlock Eng Bio, we are not a closed-off island. We need to be thinking globally and attracting global talent and investment to support this growth. Christina's talk about her company Antheia, Inc. was fantastic and provided some exceptional examples of why Eng Bio makes a great replacement for traditional “buckets and solvent” style chemical synthesis. For one of the products Antheia, Inc. is working on, we are talking: -No toxic solvents -10000x less land use -50x production time reduction -20x yield increase -2-20x cost reduction. Pretty great stats for the improvements Eng Bio can bring to traditional industries. If you are in Eng Bio and couldn't make the conference but want to know more, watch this space or follow Science Creates. I'll be doing my best to summarise the rest of her talk and more from both panels with a focus on founders building Eng Bio companies. An amazing conference so far, thanks to all the speakers and organisers!
