Speed isn’t just an advantage in biotech, it’s a superpower. Using real-world insights, this talk reveals how shortening research cycles dramatically accelerates innovation. Traditional biotech strategies emphasize scale and planning, but rapid experimentation beats lengthy, complex trials every time. Discover why embedding quickness in your culture is essential.

In terrestrial life, DNA is copied to messenger RNA, and the 64 triplet codons in messenger RNAs are decoded – in the process of translation – to synthesize proteins. Cellular protein translation provides the ultimate paradigm for the synthesis of long polymers of defined sequence and composition but is commonly limited to polymerizing the 20 canonical amino acids. I will describe our progress towards the encoded synthesis of non-canonical biopolymers. These advances may form a basis for new classes of genetically encoded polymeric materials and medicines. To realize our goals, we are re-imagining some of the most conserved features of the cell; we have created new ribosomes, new aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase/tRNA pairs, and organisms with entirely synthetic genomes in which we have re-written the genetic code.

Cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) transcends the limitations of living cells, unlocking unprecedented possibilities in biotechnology. This talk explores the potential of diverse applications of CFPS with constructive approach, including therapeutic protein production, screening, and manufacturing, and high-throughput platforms with AI/ML. This talk will foster an open dialogue across the CFPS space and showcase opportunities for this platform to drive synthetic biology innovation beyond the boundaries of life.

Accelerating timelines and reducing product development costs are paramount for synthetic biology to truly disrupt industries and create trillion-dollar markets. But fast, predictable, and cost-effective scale-up and bioprocess development present underlying challenges to our success. To overcome this, the industry needs better, cheaply generated, high-throughput fermentation data to feed and optimize AI algorithms. What if we could transform humble shake flasks into cutting-edge bioreactors? Could we de-risk synbio process development with the tools we already have? Join this session to find out what’s giving shake flasks their new superpowers.

What if we could design breakthrough enzymes for diagnostics, chemistry, or even therapeutics without relying on nature’s instructions? Today’s enzyme development is largely limited by a top-down approach, starting by thinking of what already exists rather than creating what’s truly needed. A bottom-up paradigm changes this. This approach allows us to engineer enzymes from first principles, starting with the reaction itself and tailoring function, manufacturability, and stability to meet real-world demands. This shift unlocks entirely new products and technologies and gets them to market faster and more reliably than ever before. Join this session to explore how rethinking enzyme design can transform the bioeconomy and accelerate innovation at an unprecedented scale.

What if we could design breakthrough enzymes for diagnostics, chemistry, or even therapeutics without relying on nature’s instructions? Today’s enzyme development is largely limited by a top-down approach, starting by thinking of what already exists rather than creating what’s truly needed. A bottom-up paradigm changes this. This approach allows us to engineer enzymes from first principles, starting with the reaction itself and tailoring function, manufacturability, and stability to meet real-world demands. This shift unlocks entirely new products and technologies and gets them to market faster and more reliably than ever before. Join this session to explore how rethinking enzyme design can transform the bioeconomy and accelerate innovation at an unprecedented scale.

Shake flasks are the most commonly used small-scale cultivation vessel for microbial fermentation and cell culture. Their ease-of use and low cost per experiment provide an ideal set-up for strain selection, yield optimization, and overall bioprocess characterization. Traditionally, shake flasks are black boxes. Available manual sampling methods rarely provide enough information to understand one’s bioprocess fully, are time-consuming, and come with additional risks. New, modern sensor technologies allow scientists to study key parameters in shake flasks non-invasively, automatically, and in real time, enabling bioreactor-like capabilities at the shake flask level.

The PURE (Protein synthesis Using Recombinant Elements) system is a reconstituted cell-free protein synthesis system invented by Prof. Ueda in 2001. This session will reflect on 25 years of this groundbreaking platform, trace its evolution and explore its core principles and advantages in today's synthetic biology landscape. Learn how this critical system works synergistically with other technologies including microfluidics, high-throughput screening platforms, in vitro display, AI/ML-approach to advance applications in basic research, protein engineering, and biologics R&D. Join the original developers of this technology to explore future directions and potential novel uses of PURE system technology to revolutionize fields such as personalized medicine, biomanufacturing, and artificial cells.

One of the biggest challenges faced by the regenerative medicine field today is the ability to efficiently and scalably generate therapeutic cells. This session explores cutting-edge transcription factor-based approaches for rapid and efficient differentiation of stem cells into therapeutic cell types. We will examine how synthetic biology techniques are revolutionizing cell therapy by enabling faster production of clinically relevant cells. Speakers will discuss recent advances, challenges, and future directions in harnessing transcription factors for directed differentiation, with a focus on applications in regenerative medicine and drug discovery.

This session explores how microfluidics and automated cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) are transforming biological research by enabling rapid, high-throughput workflows in compact, accessible formats. Panelists will discuss how these technologies are minimizing infrastructure needs, making advanced molecular biology and biochemistry accessible in resource-limited or extreme environments—from rural clinics and pharmaceutical labs to low Earth orbit. Applications span early-stage drug discovery, accelerating protein discovery, biosurveillance, and decentralized response systems for global health preparedness.