INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Navin Chaddha
Contributor
Navin Chaddha leads Mayfield
The firm invests in early-stage consumer and enterprise technology companies and currently has $2.7 billion under management.
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The renaissance of silicon will create industry giants
A people-first view of investing in innovation or
entrepreneurs who take people for granted will fail
We face two major threats today: one to the health of our planet and the other
says the global population will hit 9.7 billion by 2050, meaning more people consuming more natural resources than at any point in human
Consumption is already doubling every 10-12 years
Add to that the challenges of a warming planet
On the human health front, some 30% of young people under age 20 are obese, 31% of deaths are from cardiovascular disease, and cancer cases
are growing at a rate twice as fast as the population.
Fortunately, biology and technology are creating fixes for the planet as well as for
As they do so, they are poised to reinvent countless industries, giving rise to what I believe is a golden age for biology as technology
As Arvind Gupta, the founder of health-science accelerator IndieBio, argued in one recent Mediumpost, ''the twin catastrophes of planetary
and human health& will create a $100 trillion opportunity.
Before I tell you how, here is an extremely brief history of the field
Biology, of course, is the original technology
Our tinkering with life building blocks, and our ancestor manipulation of plants and herbs as medicines and their use of neem branches as
toothpaste or the cultivation of plants like corn has been going on for millennia
It wasn''t until the 1970s and 1980s that we saw the first flowering of today modern biotech industry.
In 1972, Robert A
Swanson helped launch the birth of biotech when he co-founded Genentech, which became a pioneer in the field of recombinant DNA technology
By creating novel DNA sequences in the lab, Genentech was able to synthesize human insulin for diabetics (1982), and create growth hormones
for kids who suffered from a hormone deficiency (1985).
Among the other early leaders in the field was Applied Molecular Genetics (today
In 1989, it won approval for the first recombinant human erythropoietin drugs to treat anemia in people with chronic kidney failure, and
later to treat anemia in HIV patients
Last year, the $23.75 billion company best-selling drugs were Neulasta, used to prevent infections in cancer patients undergoing
chemotherapy, and Enbrel, to treat some autoimmune diseases.
Startups working in these fields are creating entirely new industries,
disrupting others and bringing us into what I believe is a golden era of biology as technology.
Today, innovative researchers are
building on those early technologies
Among the most promising is the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique
Using what they refer to as molecular scissors, scientists can use CRISPR to edit a living person DNA, deleting or repairing damaged
Because the changes are made at the genome, the DNA fix is hereditary, unlike previous fixes that affect only the individual patient
The technique promises to slow if not eradicate cancer
It could also prevent sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia and heart disease.
Notwithstanding the concern over creating designer
babies (and the recent controversial creation of the first gene-edited babies in China), it promises to fortify our bodies for us, those of
our kids and all succeeding generations
Co-founded by Jennifer Doudna, a leader in the CRISPR field, Mammoth Biosciences is on a mission to leverage the power of CRISPR to
democratize disease detection by bringing accurate and affordable testing out of the laboratory and into the point-of-care.
Other
technologies, like DNA sequencing, cell engineering and bioprinting, have led to the creation of animal-free protein products, bio fuels for
jet engines, lightweight materials stronger than steel and even memory for computer storage
As a result, startups working in these fields are creating entirely new industries, disrupting others and bringing us into what I believe is
a golden era of biology as technology.
One successful company is Beyond Meat, which bills itself as the future of protein
With its plant-based meat product, it is trying to address our global population need for protein while also tackling the cow problem (they
consume land and water and destroy the ozone with their flatulence, not to mention some people think eating them is wrong)
The company work promises to disrupt the $270 billion global meat industry.
The entrepreneurs at New Culture are also tackling the cow issue
They are using an engineered version of baker yeast to make cheese without milk
Unlike other vegan cheeses, made from soy or nuts, this one has been praised as tasting like the real thing.
Another area ripe for
The startup Lingrove is trying to lessen our reliance on trees, and the deforestation that comes with it, by creating wood products with
flax fiber and bio-epoxy resin
With its Ekoa TP product, Lingrove is targeting the $80 billion interior market, with an eye toward using its products in the construction
Another player in this field is bioMASON
The making of concrete contributes massive amounts of carbon to the air
But this company has shown it can &grow& bricks and masonry from sand without using a traditional heating-blasting-process, by infusing the
sand with microorganisms that initiates a process like the one that creates coral.
There no telling where this golden age of biology
as technology will lead.
And then there transportation, the No
1 global contributor of greenhouse gasses
Companies like Amyris are trying to do away with fossil fuels by turning genetically engineered yeast (i.e
sugar) into environmentally friendly gas and jet fuel.
And that not all
There are many more biology as technology stories, with innovative companies doing things like turning mushrooms into leather (MycoWorks),
molecules into whiskey (Endless West) and bacteria into silk (Bolt Threads)
Biology might even reinvent information technology
Scientists have shown how a few grams of DNA can store as much information as an entire data center (Microsoft is working on this)
Another company is building computers from neurons (Airbus is a partner).
There no telling where this golden age of biology as technology
will lead, how many products it will come up with and how many industries it will end up disrupting, or creating
But it seems destined to reinvent trillion-dollar industries and create a healthier planet where we can live longer, healthier
lives.
Disclosure: Genentech and Amgen are Mayfield investments from the 1970s and 1980s
Mammoth Biosciences is a current investment.
