Dr. Reshma Shetty: Bioengineering Feats
Bioengineering, a biology-based technical discipline that integrates life sciences with engineering principles, has been creating ripples in the world of technology. The technology comprises the advancement and application of fundamental concepts of biological systems from molecular to ecosystem levels. From processing of food materials to developing and manufacturing new foods, as well as food safety, quality control, and management and movement of food materials, come under the purview of biological engineering. Also, it comprises production of fermented food and biochemical products, optimizing growth and productivity of organisms, culture and processing of aquatic plants and animals, and scale-up of biotechnology processes for new bio-based products. Bioengineers and biomedical engineers design equipment and devices, such as artificial internal organs, replacements for human bodily organs, and machines for diagnosing medical problems.
Dr. Reshma Shetty, an Indian-origin biological engineer, has been in the forefront of bioengineering through her company Ginkgo Bioworks, US. She co-founded Ginkgo in 2008, with three fellow biological engineering PhD students and their faculty supervisor at MIT. Ginkgo is a renowned synthetic biotechnology company that uses data analytics and robotics to discover and make new organisms. She is a member of the US Department of Defence's Defence Science Board.
A group of scientists from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, had one goal to be able to engineer biology and ultimately build a company for engineering organisms. Today, Ginkgo Bioworks, after over 17 years of its establishment, has become the largest user of lab-printed DNA in the world. With scores of customers and numerous engineering projects across medicine, food, nutrition, cosmetics and agriculture, among others. The brain behind it all, an extraordinary woman Reshma Shetty who has figured in the Forbes list of 'America’s Richest Self-Made Women.'
Indian Roots
Born to Indian parents, Reshma was raised in Utah, US. Her father, a university professor, inspired and ignited in her a passion for science, engineering, and mathematics. During a research program in school Reshma discovered her true calling. After a research session on cone snails she wished to study biological aspects of engineering. She earned a Bachelor's in Computer Science from the University of Utah in 2002, and studied PhD in Biological Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When she completed her education, synthetic biology was on the threshold of emerging as an amazing frontier but did not have enough takers. Reshma discerned it as an exciting place to be as a researcher.
Ginkgo Bioworks
Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, US, Ginkgo Bioworks is a reputed biotechnology company. It offers enzyme services, protein expression services, natural products services, strain optimization, process design and scale-up, and biosecurity services. It automates and scales up the process of organism engineering that allows engineers to prototype thousands of biological designs. It serves various sectors, including agriculture, biopharma, governments, industrials, nutrition and wellness. It serves verticals, such as food tech, supply chain tech and life sciences.
Ginkgo is a platform for cell programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty chemicals. It has reorganized operations into two segments: Cell Engineering and Biosecurity. The Biosecurity segment contributes the majority of the company's revenue. which charges a fee for data analytics and services.
A few years after Ginkgo's inception, it had to face challenges, due to a global financial meltdown. The founders had to look for creative ways to keep the company afloat. They had to continue operations through personal initiatives and efforts. Bootstrapping the firm was not easy amidst uncertain times, though it consolidated its position in the industry. However, soon funds began to trickle in. With its series B funding, it managed to raise $45 million.
In 2017, Bayer tied up with Ginkgo on engineering biologicals for agriculture. During the global pandemic, Ginkgo remained on the frontline of the Covid response. The company worked on testing, therapeutics, and vaccine development, besides helping to promote pooled testing for screening into schools and institutions to support them to safely reopen while preventing the spread of the Corona virus.
Camaraderie Among Promoters
Although Reshma was one of the co-founders of the company along with Tom Knight, Jason Kelly, Barry Canton, and Austin Che, she considers her associates as her mentors. Talking about her achievements, Reshma says that she is proud of her team members, who strove to build a company worthy of its mission and procure the resources to implement their plans successfully. In her view, the challenges most women face today is generally a subtler form of bias than previous generations. Bias today tends to be more of an unconscious type that frankly both men and women can have; it is harder to point your finger at it and stamp it out.
Reshma's goal is to grow Ginkgo Bioworks into the best bioengineering company in the world. She wants to be capable of engineering organisms as reliably as civil engineers can construct bridges, or electrical engineers can design computer chips. She believes that if one can actually pull off engineering biology, then the sky is the limit.
(Photo: Courtesy Company Site)
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