Biotech is f*cked.
Funding is gone. Companies are closing, people getting fired. Traditional biotech just doesn't work anymore.
Join other punks this coming weekend to tear down the system and make something different.
Enough yada yada yada about GM plants! In this first-ever IRL episode of Biopunk, I actually smell @SenseoryPlants' first product.
Gigi Minsky, CEO and co-founder, shares the business, science, product dev and biohacking of their scented plants 👃✨🪴
https://t.co/74mC02nTY2
To get real, I share my thoughts on current consumer plant companies like @neoplants, LightBio, and @SenseoryPlants, taking the MAYA (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable) design principle into consideration.
I'm especially bullish about aromatic plants for the hospitality industry.
(5/8)
Biotechnologist Sebastian Cocioba started hacking plants to put himself through college. Now, from his home lab on Long Island, he wants to bring the tools of genetic engineering to the masses. https://t.co/Y0FRnXMoDC
The little prototype's maiden voyage is underway! Sniffing volatiles as it grows. Gonna add optical density later and then all the fun muragenic UVC module ideas to test. Fragrance discovery for @SenseoryPlants and our upcomming synbio housplant products! Open source hardware FTW
Amazing work in the emerging field of scent technology. This is only the beginning!
We’re so excited to contribute to this growing field with our bioengineered fragrant houseplants.
First a digitized scent.
Then, a paper in Nature shows how odorant receptors can be engineered to figure out how slightly different structures can recognize very distinct molecules.
This is the start of something big. I can...smell it.
Had a wonderful time scheming and dreaming with @SenseoryPlants yesterday, and even got a chance to hang with @TomKnightSynBio to discuss very important crab-relate propaganda tactics. Excellent meeting; feeling refueled to push our ideas further and design new plant scents!
Colors make a lab feel cozy. Got a LOT of cloning to do today for work. Making a big parts library for @SenseoryPlants to combinatorially explore fragrance pathways. Gonna make some cool houseplants that fill the room with unique scents inspired by nature. Such a lovely gig! 💚
Just got confirmation that the basic non-fragrance tools I'll build for @SenseoryPlants will be open source! Tools and parts that don't touch their scent IP are free. Exciting to know I'll have some dream tools sponsored, and they won't be blocked. Very fair.
THIS IS THE WAY
My new work gig with @SenseoryPlants is so exciting! I've never worked with scent before and the measurement-design feedback loop is challenging, but I feel like I'll definitely grow as a biologist with this adventure. Can't wait to make plants with interesting scent profiles!
Hi folks, does anyone in California between Half Moon Bay and Davis have a wollemi pine tree growing? I’l here for a few days and I’d love to get some samples to find out what chemical compounds are responsible for their unique smell.
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We sent a photographer to @ATinyGreenCell's house.
Our initial goal was to show how he built a laboratory in his house, from scratch.
But we left instead with a deep appreciation for amateur (from the French root amour, for love) science.
Our first photo essay!
Today was really hard and took 110% of my effort, but I'm so thankful I got to end it teaching my mom how to do agroinfiltrations. RUBY spots sooon. Note the pink RFP tracer for plasmid presence in the culture. I'm so proud of her. 🥰
A very looooong and meditative day comes to a close. Sending out some plant parts for GC-MS to see if our latest fragrance circuits are working. Deeply enjoying working with @SenseoryPlants while learning tons about the biology of lovely scents. Challenging engineering for sure!
Exciting experiment for @SenseoryPlants tomorrow! Delighted to be doing the design and construction of their first product line. Such a cool startup with very fun ideas. Keep an eye out for some darlings, made with a lot of love, that smell AMAZING. 🌺
@DurocYann 16hr days and off at 10pm but havent been sniffing until i joined @SenseoryPlants as their project scientist. This could be a hit if bred well. Excitinggggg
Dear Friends with gas chromatographs, does anyone have an analytics core favility that can measure plant leaf headspace samples for polar and nonpolar volatiles as fee for service? Im doin some industry client work and need less than 25 samples run in next two weeks. TYIA! Pls RT