Edge of Consciousness: Emergence
Emergence is the word everyone reaches for when a system starts doing things nobody programmed. In AI, it's a talking point. In Dr. Aaron Engelhart's lab, it's a benchtop problem.
Dr. Aaron Engelhart's lab at the University of Minnesota and the related SpudCell project both probe how life might emerge, from opposite directions: building it up versus rewiring its molecular parts. SpudCell, the first synthetic cell with a complete cell cycle, shows that a full cell cycle, growth, replication, and even evolution can emerge from purified components alone, using fewer genes than previously thought minimal for life. Dr. Engelhart's lab complements this by engineering RNA and DNA to do more than store information. His group uses experimental and ML/AI tools to evolve and engineer cofactor-binding nucleic acids that catalyze reactions and fluorescent RNAs for imaging and pathogen detection.
Together, this work clarifies the molecular conditions from which life-like behavior can emerge, models how early biochemistry may have started, and builds tools for future biosensing and biomanufacturing where emergent properties of engineered nucleic acids can be put to practical use.
Come early for open office hours with law firm, Cooley LLP, details below.
Date/Time: September 17, 2026 / 5:00 - 7:30 PM
📍Location: BGA HQ
Agenda
5:00 - 6:10 pm Office hours w/ Chris Holly (Patent partner, Cooley LLP) + networking.
6:10 - 6:15 pm Welcome from BGA + Cooley; intro to Dr. Engelhart
6:15 – 6:45 pm Talk: Emergence (Dr. Aaron Engelhart)
6:45 – 7:00 pm Fireside chat + audience Q&A (moderated by Scott Nisbet)
7:00 – 7:30 pm Networking
Food + drinks provided
Cooley Office Hours (5:30 – 6:10 pm)
Cooley attorneys will be available for short, one-on-one sessions to help emerging companies work through practical questions involving IP strategy, company formation, financing, and diligence preparation. Bring us the issues you’re thinking through now, or the ones you want to get ahead of before your next financing or major milestone. Sign up in advance or walk in. Sign up here.
Moderator + Guest Speaker
Scott Nisbett (Moderator) is a founder, investor, and entrepreneur with leadership experience spanning life sciences, video gaming, and automotive, and expertise in life sciences investing, clinical trials, and autonomous vehicles. A Cal grad, he mentors startups and research teams across the Berkeley innovation ecosystem: Berkeley Gateway Accelerator, SkyDeck, the Deep Tech Innovation Lab, the Neurotech Collider Lab, and Berkeley Lab, and coaches teams through the Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship Bootcamp at SCET.
Dr. Aaron Engelhart (Guest Speaker) is an Associate Professor in the University of Minnesota's Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, where his lab engineers RNA and DNA to do far more than store information - catalyzing reactions, imaging living cells, and detecting pathogens. He earned his PhD at Georgia Tech and trained as a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow with Nobel laureate Jack Szostak at Harvard/MGH, studying aptamers and ribozymes in lipid vesicles. His work sits at the intersection of origins-of-life research and synthetic biology, backed by NASA, NSF, NIH, and the Department of Defense.
Who this is for
Founders and operators building in synthetic bio, biomanufacturing, and AI/ML
Researchers, grad students, and postdocs from UC Berkeley and the broader Bay Area
Investors tracking bio and frontier tech
Anyone curious about where life, intelligence, and emergence intersect, no background required
This event is generously sponsored by Cooley LLP, a global law firm supporting founders and investors across life sciences and emerging technology.