>FASTA_21
CRISPR vs Down Syndrome; Copper reverses Parkinson’s; Samphire Neuroscience; Bryan Johnson & Circulate Health; Apple’s BCI protocol; Syn57 & Constructive Bio; Senator on Bioweapons; Willy Wonka
>FASTA: weekly short reads of the global biotech ecosystem | Papers and patents, acquisitions and bankruptcies, biotech philosophy | Read in under 5 min | Follow on LinkedIn, X, and now Instagram too!
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1/10: CRISPR to treat down syndrome
Japanese scientists removed the extra chromosome responsible for Down syndrome in iPSCs and fibroblasts grown in-vitro using CRISPR-Cas9. Since several genes exhibit differential expression between alleles of parental origin, the edits had to be allele-specific to mitigate the risk of imprinting disorders.
2/10: Copper reversed Parkinson’s in mice
In Parkinson’s patients, the misfolded antioxidant enzyme SOD1 accumulates in the brain causing damage to dopamine neurons. Since copper is crucial for the protein’s functioning and its reduced availability is drives the development of this disease, this study designed CuATSM for copper supplementation to brain tissue. Mice that received it showed no alterations in their movement and SOD1 restored functioning.
3/10: Samphire Neuroscience’s $5M seed
“Nettle is the world’s first brain stimulating headband for at-home alleviation of PMS and period pain symptoms. Available to buy in the UK and across the EU, Nettle is also undergoing clinical trials in PMDD and endometriosis populations”.
Two electrodes stimulate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to improve emotional regulation, while two others activate the insula via the motor cortex to ease pain. 20 minutes a day mimic brain activity during the follicular phase = improved mood and increased energy.
4/10: Circulate health raises $12M seed
Bryan Johnson’s new microplastics results are out! He was able to reduce them by 93% by removing as much plastic from his life as possible, taking sauna sessions, and crucially, undergoing total plasma exchange. Circulate was the company he worked with for this procedure.
5/10: My worries on ozempic Pt.2
Sex drive increase with GLP-1 agonist drugs is associated with reducing former barriers like self-esteem, poor digestion, blood flow, or heavy weight alone. But it’s certainly not the case for everyone. Despite exceeding their weight-loss goals, some people have seen their libido drop even more after taking Wegovy.
“When you think about it, it lowers drive, period. It lowers drive to eat. It lowers drive to drink alcohol, and it may actually reduce drive to have sex,” says Stephanie Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health. While these drugs are becoming the new iPhone, advancing faster with new launches, we should have a better idea of how they impact different populations.
6/10: Apple’s BCI protocol
Synchron introduce their BCI via an endovascular procedure instead of open brain surgery. Earlier this year, they became the first BCI company to natively integrate with Apple’s new BCI Human Interface Device profile, allowing users to control their Apple devices only with their thoughts.
To their CEO, BCIs are more than an accessibility tool, they’re a next-generation interface layer that Apple is now helping to pioneer. If you ask me, BCIs as “personal computers” for everyone’s daily lives are still 10 years away, and invasive tech is being developed by others. Meanwhile though, Apple will develop non-invasive ways for us to interact with our devices in new and interesting ways.
7/10: 57-codon E. coli and Constructive Bio
Syn57 is an E. coli with 57 codons (instead of the usual 64). What the hell for? Well, reducing the number of codons can create virus-resistant organisms, enable efficient synthesis of proteins with non-canonical amino acids, and overall explore new sequences that mere genome editing cannot make.
Competing interests ahead! Dr. JWC is the founder of Constructive Bio, a company that uses biotech like this to build new programmable biomolecules with applications ranging from drugs to ecofriendly biomaterials. Looking forward to more of this crazy shit.
8/10: Senator Todd Young on biodefense
Senator and chair of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) Todd Young commented that the NSCEB will basically wait for the American people change their views on bioweapons, while acknowledging that defense mechanisms are needed to be prepared for potential attacks from China or others.
I found it ironic that he cited Dr. Jiankui He’s famous CRISPR experiment on embryos as an example of Chinese biotech misaligned with American values, given the CRISPR man seems to be establishing a human embryo gene editing lab in Austin, Texas. Right or wrong, a Chinese scientist already led the way.
9/10: Universal newborn screening
The UK has announced a £650M plan to offer WGS to every newborn over the next decade. Similarly, Florida’s Sunshine Genetics Act will allocate $3M to a 5-year, voluntary statewide pilot of newborn genomic screening to screen for 200+ rare but treatable conditions.
Since 2016, France has also invested €239M in their Plan France Médecine Génomique 2025, through which they’ve implemented genomic sequencing outputting nearly 35,000 prescriptions for rare disease and cancer. Training a workforce in genomics is a challenge to them, one I clearly see AI solving.
10/10: Tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory
This January, I took the train from San Francisco to Sacramento to visit California Cultured, a company that turns cocoa tree cells into flavanol-rich, contaminant-free, eco-friendly, and irresistible cocoa. Not only did I get to see the whole process from cell to chocolate, but I actually had a bit myself!
In this first Official Biopunk Labs Tour, you can learn how cocoa production in Africa has been impacted in the last few years, how California Cultured is growing cocoa in the lab (video included for BSL5 subscribers), and read some biopunk philosophical thoughts on the industrialization of biology.
One more thing… Para todos los Biopunks en Latam e hispanohablantes alrededor del mundo, ¡¡>FASTA ahora está disponible en español en mi nueva publicación de Substack!! Hazme saber que te interesa haciendo click en el botón de abajo y compartiendo con tus amigos :D