News Digest #237 - Airbus bets big on spider silk, Bolt Threads' new bag, women in synbio, and more (sponsored by Ginkgo Bioworks)

Hi all,Big news in biomaterials this week with AMSilk’s announcement of a joint development agreement with Airbus, one of the largest airplane manufacturers in the world, to use synthetic spider silk biopolymers to build the lightweight, high performance planes of the future. Bolt Threads also announced a new launch licensing Ecovative’s mushroom material. Ecovative CEO and co-founder Eben Bayer will be joining the panel discussion “A revolution in materials,” on the opening night of the SynBioBeta conference.

Today’s digest is brought to you by Ginkgo Bioworks. If you’re unable to attend SynBioBeta because of family obligations with young children - Ginkgo wants to help, and is giving you the opportunity to participate fully by offering nanny care and lactation facilities to speakers, sponsors and attendees. If you would like to take advantage of this offer, please let me know by noon on Wed Sept 19.

The underrepresentation of women in STEM persists in both academia and industry, but there is hope. “With leaders like Christina Agapakis, Jenny Rooke, Una Ryan, Vonnie Estes, and Jaleh Daie (pictured below) paving the way, the future for women in synthetic biology looks brighter every day”, writes Embriette Hyde. Ginkgo Bioworks Creative Director, Christina Agapakis, adds that “When we imagine technology that could so dramatically reshape our world, our food, and ourselves, everybody should have a voice.” Join Christina for an interactive lunch and learn session on women in synthetic biology at SynBioBeta 2018. Mintz Levin will also be hosting a breakfast and satellite event on empowering women leaders, and don’t miss our focus panel sponsored by Ginkgo Bioworks on emerging women leaders in synthetic biology for a discussion on how we can create champions and mentors at the highest levels.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced 36 projects totaling $80 million to support early-stage bioenergy research and development. Congratulations to Arzeda, Lygos, ZymoChem, LanzaTech, Visolis, and the other grantees. Also, congrats to Laura Deming, Elizabeth Iorns, Emily Leproust, Molly Morse for being recognized as 2018 Upstart 50, entrepreneurs and visionaries who fuel the Bay Area's business innovations.Check out my conversation with Alok Tayi of TetraScience for the Digital Biotech podcast. We talk about the synthetic biology ecosystem, and how the community is seeing their innovations applied in the real world.

Finally, SynBioBeta contributor David Kirk explores how public funding is fueling the synthetic biology industry in the UK -- and why it’s especially critical for supporting new synthetic biology companies.Regards,John

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