SynBioBeta Returns to Imperial College London with Emily LeProust of Twist Bioscience to Keynote

Thu, 16/04/2015 - 09:00

London, UK, 16th April 2015 / Sciad Newswire / The third annual SynBioBeta conference returns to Imperial College London on Wednesday April 22nd and Thursday April 23rd 2015, to gather the top biotech entrepreneurs, industry players, and investors focused on the emerging field of synthetic biology.

Emily LeProust, CEO of Twist Bioscience, the next-generation DNA synthesis startup, will keynote. It will be the first time she speaks publicly about the company since it raised its $26 million series B last year.

This year’s SynBioBeta will showcase over 45 emerging and established companies, including a range of synthetic biology companies from the UK, US, and across Europe with representation from industries including automation, pharma and healthcare, food and agriculture, and more.

Deemed one of the UK’s “Eight Great Technologies” by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, synthetic biology combines biology and engineering to construct organisms with novel functions for health, agriculture and industrial applications. Globally, the sector has exceeded £1.8 billion and is slated to quadruple over the next five years.

“The UK government’s investment in this field is starting to pay off,” says John Cumbers, Ph.D, the founder of the SynBioBeta conference. “With the growth of the UK bioeconomy and the soaring number of startups in synthetic biology, it’s going to be a very exciting event.”

Other highlights include the announcement of SGI-DNA’s new benchtop synthesis device early access program, a new bioengineering tool kit from Synbiota, and the new synthetic biology textbook BioBuilder published by O’Reilly Media. In addition, a new metabolic engineering platform for plants will be announced by Glowing Plant.

Notes for Editors

Supporters of the conference include SynbiCITE, Autodesk, Twist Bioscience, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Agilent Technologies, the Synthetic Biology Special Interest Group, the Synthetic Biology Knowledge Transfer Network and Labcyte.

For more information on the conference, please contact: Kate Wildauer, SynBioBeta, LLC  Phone: +1 650-933-5455.  Email: kate.wildauer@synbiobeta.com,

Website: www.synbiobeta.com

Follow us on Twitter at @SynBioBeta and look for our London event hashtag #SBBUK15.

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About SynBioBeta

SynBioBeta is the leading community of entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and enthusiasts devoted to the responsible growth of the synthetic biology field. We’re dedicated to telling the stories of the field and companies involved, building their networks, and helping them grow.

Our international conferences and events bring the entire community together several times each year and give anyone the opportunity to meet with the bright minds building and shaping the bioeconomy — from venture capitalists and angel investors to entrepreneurs and industry thought leaders.

SynBioBeta offers a highly specialized news digest and blog, online advertisements, and exhibit sponsorships in addition to expert-driven research reports, courses and training as well as consulting services.

Media contacts

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Deborah Cockerill at deborah@sciad.com, +44 (0)7930 317729