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Biotechnology — Editing biology like software

From cutting and pasting genes in 1973 to writing mRNA scripts that run inside your cells. A working tour of the platforms that turned living systems into...

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From cutting and pasting genes in 1973 to writing mRNA scripts that run inside your cells. A working tour of the platforms that turned living systems into engineerable substrate. Key sections include: BIOTECHNOLOGY Editing biology like software; Recombinant DNA: cut, paste, run.; A startup turns the lab trick into a company.; Human insulin, brewed in E. coli.; PCR: a Xerox machine for DNA.; Sequencing collapses 100,000× in cost.; One target. One molecule. One blockbuster.; CRISPR: programmable scissors with a GPS.; mRNA platforms: ship the recipe, not the protein.; Synthetic biology: bacteria as fabs..

Key sections

  • 01BIOTECHNOLOGY Editing biology like software
  • 02Recombinant DNA: cut, paste, run.
  • 03A startup turns the lab trick into a company.
  • 04Human insulin, brewed in E. coli.
  • 05PCR: a Xerox machine for DNA.
  • 06Sequencing collapses 100,000× in cost.
  • 07One target. One molecule. One blockbuster.
  • 08CRISPR: programmable scissors with a GPS.
  • 09mRNA platforms: ship the recipe, not the protein.
  • 10Synthetic biology: bacteria as fabs.
  • 11Bespoke cells. Living drugs.
  • 12In-vivo editing, organoids, generative biology.
  • 13Read & watch.

Topics covered

catalogtechbiotech

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Slide outline
  1. 01BIOTECHNOLOGY Editing biology like software
  2. 02Recombinant DNA: cut, paste, run.
  3. 03A startup turns the lab trick into a company.
  4. 04Human insulin, brewed in E. coli.
  5. 05PCR: a Xerox machine for DNA.
  6. 06Sequencing collapses 100,000× in cost.
  7. 07One target. One molecule. One blockbuster.
  8. 08CRISPR: programmable scissors with a GPS.
  9. 09mRNA platforms: ship the recipe, not the protein.
  10. 10Synthetic biology: bacteria as fabs.
  11. 11Bespoke cells. Living drugs.
  12. 12In-vivo editing, organoids, generative biology.
  13. 13Read & watch.
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Presentation Transcript

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Slide 01

BIOTECHNOLOGY Editing biology like software

  • Catalog · Technology Series
  • From cutting and pasting genes in 1973 to writing mRNA scripts that run inside your cells. A working tour of the platforms that turned living systems into engineerable substrate.
  • 13 slides
  • ~ 6 min read
  • Use ← → or click
Slide 02

Recombinant DNA: cut, paste, run.

  • 021973 · OriginCohen & Boyer
  • Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer used restriction enzymes as molecular scissors and plasmids as carriers, then dropped engineered DNA into E. coli — and it ran. Biology became a copy/paste medium.
  • Restriction enzymes
  • Bacterial proteins that snip DNA at specific sequences — the original "Ctrl-X."
  • Plasmids
  • Small circular DNA that copies itself inside bacteria. The first delivery vehicle.
  • Why it matters
  • Genes became portable software. Any organism could host any sequence.
Slide 03

A startup turns the lab trick into a company.

  • 031976 · IndustryGenentech founded
  • Boyer + venture capitalist Robert Swanson founded Genentech in South San Francisco — the first firm built explicitly to commercialize recombinant DNA. Biotech as an industry begins here.
  • The pitch
  • If bacteria can be programmed to make any protein, they can make medicines. At scale. Cheaply.
  • The IPO (1980)
  • Genentech's stock jumped from $35 to $88 in 20 minutes — Wall Street had just discovered biotech.
Slide 04

Human insulin, brewed in E. coli.

  • 041982 · First drugHumulin
  • Before 1982, insulin was harvested from pig and cow pancreases. Genentech & Eli Lilly inserted the human insulin gene into bacteria — a fermentation tank now made identical-to-human protein. The first FDA-approved biotech drug.
  • 1982
  • FDA approval
  • ~ 8,000
  • pancreases / patient / yr (old way)
  • 1 tank
  • replaces a slaughterhouse
  • Proof of concept that swept biology: you don't extract — you express.
Slide 05

PCR: a Xerox machine for DNA.

  • 051983 · MethodPCR · Kary Mullis
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction takes one DNA molecule and, through 30 thermal cycles, copies it a billion-fold in an afternoon. Forensics, diagnostics, COVID tests — all downstream of this trick.
  • Denature
  • 95°C splits the double helix into single strands.
  • Anneal
  • ~55°C lets short primers latch onto target sites.
  • Extend
  • 72°C — Taq polymerase doubles the template. Repeat 30×.
  • 230 ≈ one billion. Exponentials, applied to biology.
Slide 06

Sequencing collapses 100,000× in cost.

  • 062003→Now · ReadingSanger → Illumina
  • The Human Genome Project cost ~$2.7B and took 13 years. Today an Illumina NovaSeq reads a full human genome overnight for a few hundred dollars. Biology's "Moore's Law" — only steeper.
  • 2003
  • First human genome
  • $100M → $200
  • per genome
  • overnight
  • turn-around today
  • Reading became cheap before writing did. That asymmetry shaped the field for two decades — and is starting to flip.
Slide 07

One target. One molecule. One blockbuster.

  • 07Drugs · TargetedMonoclonal antibodies
  • Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins your immune system uses to grab specific molecules. Monoclonals are factory-made versions, engineered to bind a single target — and they have rewired modern medicine.
  • Humira — autoimmune; once the world's top-selling drug.
  • Keytruda — releases the brakes on T-cells; cancer immunotherapy.
  • Herceptin, Rituxan, Ozempic-class — receptor-specific medicines.
Slide 08

CRISPR: programmable scissors with a GPS.

  • 082012 · EditingCRISPR-Cas9
  • Doudna & Charpentier (2012) showed Cas9 + a guide RNA can be aimed at any 20-letter sequence in a genome. Editing went from heroic to recipe.
  • Guide RNA
  • A 20-nt address line. Change the guide, change the target.
  • Cas9 nuclease
  • Cuts both DNA strands at the chosen address.
  • Casgevy (2023)
  • First FDA-approved CRISPR therapy — sickle cell disease.
  • Base editing & prime editing extend the toolbox to single-letter rewrites without cutting.
Slide 09

mRNA platforms: ship the recipe, not the protein.

  • 092020+ · PlatformmRNA
  • Lipid nanoparticles deliver mRNA into cells; ribosomes read the script and produce the target protein. COVID vaccines proved the platform at planetary scale — oncology vaccines and rare-disease therapies are next.
  • Sequence-to-vial in weeks, not years.
  • Same factory, different payload.
  • Personalized cancer vaccines: tumor-specific neoantigens, made for one patient.
Slide 10

Synthetic biology: bacteria as fabs.

  • 10Synthetic biologyDesign · Build · Test
  • Design DNA on a screen → order it from a DNA synthesis vendor → drop it into an engineered host → it makes the molecule for you. The wet-lab equivalent of "compile and run."
  • Design
  • CAD tools, codon optimization, pathway models.
  • Synthesize
  • Print custom genes; per-base costs falling steadily.
  • Brew
  • Yeast, E. coli, mammalian cells, even cell-free systems make the product.
  • Examples: artemisinin (anti-malarial), spider-silk fibers, animal-free dairy proteins, leather, fragrances, fuels.
Slide 11

Bespoke cells. Living drugs.

  • 11Cell & gene therapyOne-shot medicine
  • Instead of a daily pill, you re-engineer the patient's own biology — once.
  • CAR-T
  • Take a patient's T-cells, equip them with a synthetic receptor, infuse them back. Some leukemias go into durable remission.
  • AAV vectors
  • Engineered viruses deliver corrected genes — Luxturna (vision), Zolgensma (SMA), Hemgenix (hemophilia B).
  • Bespoke n=1
  • Custom CRISPR therapies designed for individual children with ultra-rare mutations are now reaching patients.
Slide 12

In-vivo editing, organoids, generative biology.

  • 12FrontiersWhat's next
  • In-vivo editing
  • CRISPR delivered directly into the body — no cell extraction. Early wins in liver-targeted disease (e.g., transthyretin amyloidosis).
  • Organoids
  • Mini-brains, mini-guts, mini-livers grown from stem cells — drug testing without animals; disease in a dish.
  • Generative biology
  • AI models (AlphaFold, ESM, RFdiffusion) design proteins from scratch. Antibodies, enzymes, binders — written, not discovered.
  • 1973rDNA
  • 1982Humulin
  • 1983PCR
  • 2003Genome
  • 2012CRISPR
  • 2020+mRNA / AI
Slide 13

Read & watch.

  • 13ReferencesGoing deeper
  • Books / long reads
  • Siddhartha Mukherjee — The Gene
  • Walter Isaacson — The Code Breaker (Doudna & CRISPR)
  • Sally Smith Hughes — Genentech: The Beginnings of Biotech
  • NIH / NHGRI primers (free, current)
  • Watch on YouTube
  • mRNA vaccine science →
  • CRISPR-Cas9 explained →
  • Search-results links so you can pick the channel you trust.
  • End of deck · press ← to revisit, or click anywhere to advance.
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