Skyline College: Biotech Students Attend Built With Biology Conference/Race Against The Clock Summit

San Bruno CA

02 May, 2022

7:38 AM

Description

Press release from Skyline College: April 29, 2022 The conference was sponsored by Ginko Bioworks, which covered conference fees, lunch and a hotel room for both business and biotech students. Ginkgo Bioworks is a research and development foundation focused on utilizing genetic engineering for other biotech companies. To capture the attention of those unfamiliar with the field, they also publish magazines that showcase the different applications of biotechnology. Students attended a wealth of show-and-tell and panel discussions at the conference. One particularly captivating talk was about Wonder Alpine, a company that makes skis from an algae-based bioplastic as a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastics (founded by Matt Sterbenz, a one-time philosophy major who switched to biotech). Similarly, bioplastics were also applied to such products as vinyl records, illustrating the vast applications of biotechnology and its potential to provide sustainable alternatives and solutions in addressing climate change. This was made more evident in the trade show where companies displayed and provided demonstrations of their products: cutting edge lab equipment, bricks made out of mushrooms, Virtual Reality software to examine 3D protein structures, cosmetics produced from genetically engineered bacteria, and, of course, the skis made from bioplastic. One company had a genetic foundry, a large gene library where they could create almost anything from scratch using synthetic biology. The representatives of these companies were very excited to talk to the students and one even offered a plasmid kit to students involved in research that could use them. Biotech industry leaders also spoke about their career paths and industry experience, and shared advice for students and emerging leaders who aspire to be part of the industry. "As this is an annual event, it would be great to invite more students," said Biotechnology professor Nick Kapp. "I hope that next year we can also invite our business students to come and see what opportunities there are in the nation's growing bioeconomy," he added. This press release was produced by Skyline College. The views expressed here are the author's own.