Explore the Future of Biomanufacturing
Welcome to my blog! I'm James, a strategic advisor and coach with over 20 years of experience in biotech and executive leadership. I've built high-performing teams and led groundbreaking research in stem cell metabolism, regenerative medicine, and cultured meat. As a passionate advocate for biomanufacturing's world-changing potential, I'm excited to share my knowledge and ideas with you.
What You’ll Discover Here
🔬 Latest Innovations: Explore cutting-edge advancements in biomanufacturing, cultivated meat, and cellular agriculture.
🚀 Founder's Corner: Access valuable tools and insights developed for my coaching program, tailored specifically for technical founders.
🎙️ Industry Voices: Every two weeks, enjoy an in-depth interview with a founder, investor, or operator in the biomanufacturing space.
🎙️ From Glow-in-the-Dark Carrots to Venture Capital
For this week’s newsletter, I had the opportunity to chat with Eshan Samaranayake from Better Bite Ventures and author of the Better Bioeconomy newsletter. This feels like a full-circle moment for me, as Eshan interviewed me shortly after I left Vow in early 2024. Our friendship is a great example of the power of networking—and LinkedIn in particular.
🎙️ A Green Genie to Grant Your Biomass Yield Wishes
This week, I had the pleasure of chatting with Nick Hazell, founder and CEO of Algenie, and previously the founder and CEO of plant-based food company v2food.
🎙️ What does minestrone soup and biomanufacturing have in common?
This metaphor perfectly captures one of the biggest challenges in biomanufacturing today: waste and side-stream valorization. It’s also one of the first things Jason Whitfield, an investment associate at Main Sequence VC, shared with me during our initial conversation. From the get-go, we dived into biomanufacturing opportunities in Australia, and Jason’s ability to clearly articulate complex challenges like this one was striking.
🎙️ How an Octopus can Accelerate your Bioprocess - An interview with Cristofer Rybner of Reocto
For biomanufacturing to have the global impact we’re all hoping for, many things will need to change. Biomanufactured products like food and textiles, while starting in the luxury space, must eventually come down in price to become widely accessible. This will require changes to the underlying technologies. One critical piece of infrastructure is the bioreactor—where cells or organisms are grown at a massive scale 🌱.
🎙️Protein from Air? - An Interview with David McLellan from Jooules
Gas fermentation feeds bacteria with CO₂, hydrogen, and nitrogen, allowing them to grow rapidly, doubling in under an hour. This produces a “complete” protein rich in essential amino acids, making it a highly attractive ingredient. 🍽️
🎙️ Sausages for Science
I had the pleasure of chatting with two incredible founders who've been building a vibrant scientific community right here in Melbourne. Samuel Wines and Andrew Gray, co-founders of the shared co-working lab space CoLabs, shared their fascinating backgrounds, what drives them, and their vision for the future.
🎙️ Values before mission?
As part of my weekly interview series, I had the opportunity to sit down with Mohammad from Bright Biotech to learn more about his journey as a founder and the challenges he has faced along the way. 🚀
🎙️ Cockroaches versus Unicorns?
"We have a lot of companies building real, tangible solutions. Incumbents are being squeezed by new regulations and advances in technology, creating a perfect storm for innovation. 🌪️ Build something real, co-develop with customers, and start generating revenue quickly. Everyone’s hunting for unicorns. I’m more interested in cockroaches—companies that can grow and be strong regardless of the market. You can’t kill them!"
🎙️ Building a research lab in your backyard? It’s easier than you might think!
This week, I had the pleasure of catching up with my former Vow colleague, Dr. Katie Bashant Day, from Media City Scientific.
🎙️ Schrödinger’s Egg - Here, but Not (from) Here 🥔
Founded in 2022, and funded by several VC’s (led by FoodLabs) PoLoPo is now growing ovalbumin-loaded potatoes in growth rooms in Israel. Ovalbumin is their first product—a protein used in a surprisingly large percentage of food products—but their vision extends much further. They plan to develop the potato as a manufacturing platform for dozens (eventually hundreds) of ingredients. Turning the humble potato into one of the worlds most advanced manufacturing facilities. 🏭
🎙️ LaaS - Lightning-as-a-Service ⚡
Australia's First Nations have known for generations that lightning can significantly impact plant growth. In fact, areas struck by lightning are known to provide fertile soil, leading to substantial increases in plant growth rates and excellent crop yields.
🎙️ GMP and Beautiful Design - Moving Beyond the "Big White Box" 🏢🌿
Before my time at Vow, if asked how to design a new lab space, my answer would have been, "just build a big white box and make sure it is compliant." It was only through Vow's cofounder Tim Noakesmith that I learned the value of beautiful spaces.
🎙️Fogponics, molecular farming and my chat with the Lite & Fog crew
Recently, I had the pleasure of discussing this molecular farming with Uwe Peter and Martin Peter from Lite&Fog. They're pioneering the use of fogponics to enhance the efficiency and yield of molecularly farmed products.
🎙️ Microfluidics for large scale cell harvesting?
Traditionally, centrifugation, whether continuous or batch, has been the go-to solution. But, as we aim for higher volumes, striking a balance between efficiency, speed, and cell integrity becomes a significant challenge 🔄. This is where innovative approaches like microfluidics might come into play.