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What is biotechnology? It sounds like something in a sci-fi movie. In truth, it’s far from fiction. Biotechnology, as defined by Biotechnology Innovation Organization, is “technology based on biology – biotechnology harnesses cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and the health of our planet.”
So many companies now exist that aim to utilize the environment for scientific and medicinal purposes, but there are a few start-up companies that are going after the seemingly impossible through biotechnology:
This startup has been featured on Forbes and is a potentially groundbreaking company. Denali Therapeutics aims to defeat neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, is the most common cause of dementia and involves a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Almost 5.5 million people in America are estimated to have Alzheimer’s this year alone, but Denali hopes to eradicate the disease through rigorous therapeutic discovery and development.
Cancer affects people of all ages and nationalities and is a common – and often fatal – disease that so far can only be cured with surgery or chemotherapy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the number of adults who have ever been diagnosed with cancer is an astounding 20.3 million. One company believes it might have the answer to finding that long sought-after cure. Flagship Ventures invested in Evelo Biosciences, a company that is “pioneering Oncobiotic therapeutics, a new modality in cancer therapy.” The therapy will focus on the microbiome of the immune system and involves disrupting the specific microenvironment surrounding malignant tumors. According to its website, Evelo is taking on this new field by developing new treatments for cancer that disrupt this symbiotic relationship between the tumor and host bacteria.
This organization works in biodetection, functional genomics, drugs and biodefense, data storage, and genome engineering. It specializes in synthetic DNA and biology. Though synthetic biology has been fiercely debated on the premise that it is “unnatural,” Twist BioScience Corporation‘s CEO, Emily Leproust, Ph.D., has extensive knowledge in the field. She created the SureSelect product line, which explored dozens of diseases, and has studied synthetic biology for many years. The possible upside to synthetic biology, according to MIT, is the potential ability to generate organisms that would allow biologists to better understand how natural mechanisms work. Researchers must be careful to avoid the accidental release of harmful organisms that were originally intended to be benign. Nonetheless, TBC aims to improve medicine and other fields of science with its synthetic biology.
Hearing loss is extremely common. According to the Hearing Health Foundation, “It is estimated that 50 million people in the U.S., and 360 million people worldwide, suffer from hearing loss and it is the most common cause of sensory impairment.” Decibel says the company aims to fully heal hearing disorders by “combining recent innovations in hearing science with leading diagnostic tools, biological insights, and therapeutic delivery techniques.”
This startup is doing something truly innovative. The company aims to turn the body into its own drug-making factory. According to Moderna, it is pioneering the development of drugs made of messenger RNA (mRNA) to direct the body to make virtually any protein. Moderna’s specific brand of chemistry enables mRNA to elude the body’s natural immune system to create the specific proteins needed to help the body. With this technology, Moderna hopes to eventually “address hundreds of diseases not treatable today.”
Science and technology are making huge strides in medical advances. If these startup companies become established, they have the potential to change the biotech landscape for the better.
