Gene Writing & Biotechnology: How We Learned to Program Life
For most of history, biology was something we watched happen. In the last decade, it has quietly become something we can design.
What does it actually mean to "write" a gene rather than just cut one? Why do scientists now talk about DNA the same way engineers talk about code? And how close are we to a world where medicines, materials and even the food on our plates are built from the cell up?
In this Growth Lab Live session, Marc Güell takes us inside one of the most consequential frontiers of modern science. We look at where CRISPR ends and gene writing begins, why the ability to add new instructions to a genome unlocks things simple editing cannot, and what all of this means for medicine, industry and the founders quietly building the next generation of biotech out of Barcelona.
What you will take away:
What synthetic biology actually is, in plain English
How gene writing extends what CRISPR started, and why it matters
Where engineered biology is already showing up in medicine and industry
A realistic timeline for the therapies and technologies people keep hearing about
What it takes to turn a lab discovery into a real biotech company
About the speaker:
Marc Güell is ICREA Research Professor at UPF and head of the Translational Synthetic Biology group. He trained at Harvard Medical School and MIT under George Church, one of the founding figures of modern synthetic biology, before returning to Barcelona to build his own lab. He is an EMBO Young Investigator, holds Spain's National Research Award for Young Talent, and is the founder of Integra Therapeutics, one of several biotech companies he has spun out of his own research.
Agenda:
1845h - Doors open
1900h - Talk starts
1945h - Q&A
2015h - Drinks & Networking
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