The pandemic has exposed our broken pharma supply chain. Synthetic biology and brewer’s yeast could fix it.
Covid-19 has depleted stockpiles of essential medicines in the U.S., straining our supply chains and hobbling the treatment of critically ill patients.
The Journey of a Pill
mericans spend over $300 billion on pharmaceutical drugs every year. In normal times, the supply chain behind these drugs is designed to go unnoticed…
Modern Medicine’s Ancient Roots
For thousands of years, communities across cultures and geographies have relied on the inherent healing properties of plants. Ancient Greek physicians prized mint for treating digestive issues and it is used frequently today in the…
Stanford Team Turns Lowly Yeast into Medicine, and So Much More
For millenniums, humans have harnessed yeast to brew beer. Now, in the latest advance in the fast-moving field of “synthetic biology,” a Stanford team is enlisting the lowly fungus to do so much more…
Can This Silicon Valley Startup Bioengineer A Less Addictive Opioid?
Back in 2015, a 40-year-old synthetic biologist named Christina Smolke, along with a small team of researchers at Stanford, made a huge discovery. They proved that a genetically engineered yeast could produce opioid molecules…
Breaking the Walls to Affordable Medicines
In the current age of life sciences, we have come to invent better and better drugs that are increasingly efficient in relieving pain and treating diseases. Despite this positive trend, the world continuously faces serious…
Transforming Medicinal Supply Chains
In the Future of Everything radio show, Stanford bioengineers Russ Altman and Christina Smolke discuss advances in synthetic biology and the rise of opioids made from yeast.
Finding Medicine Where You Least Expect It
Until now, much of the medicines we use to treat dire illnesses have been derived from plants. But that means we are dependent on natural conditions out of our control, such as drought, pollination, floods…
Antheia CEO: One of the Ten People who Mattered Most in 2015
Early this year, synthetic biologist Christina Smolke was in a dead-heat race with a handful of other labs to engineer a yeast strain capable of making opioids…