Grow Everything Biotech Podcast
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Grow Everything explores the world of biology as technology. Hosts Erum Khan and Karl Schmieder interview leaders and influencers biologizing industries with tools like synthetic biology, precision fermentation, bioprospecting, and more. These companies make biomaterials from waste, cosmetics that restore healthy hair and skin, and delicious cultivated foods in a bioreactor and so much more. Join us as we discuss the latest and greatest across biotech, engineered biology, entrepreneurship, and culture and how this transition is solving healthcare and climate change challenges.
Afleveringen
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205. The Sweet Taste of Negative Waste: Max Kufner Ferments Carbon Waste at Again
30 oktober 2026 · 53 min
What does it take to turn industrial carbon dioxide into useful chemicals at a price the market will accept? On Grow Everything, Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan speak with Max Kufner, cofounder and CEO of Again, about using gas fermentation to make acetate and other products from industrial emissions. Max explains why feedstock economics and locating production close to customers matter, what the acquisition of Genomatica brings to Again, and why real production data is essential for predicting whether a bioprocess can work at industrial scale. He also shares how customer demand, licensing, project finance, and partnerships can help move biotechnology from the lab into the real world. Before the interview, the hosts explore an AI assisted biomanufacturing class and the latest discussion around deextinction. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) - Biology, public engagement, and biomanufacturing education
(00:05:00) - AI agents and cell free protein experiments
(00:10:00) - Deextinction, the moa, and biotechnology
(00:15:00) - Max Kufner on turning carbon dioxide into chemicals
(00:20:00) - From venture capital to building Again
(00:26:00) - Industrial bioreactors and manufacturing at the source
(00:32:00) - Financing biotechnology scale with customer partnerships
(00:38:00) - Building biomanufacturing facilities in the US and Europe
(00:44:00) - Climate tech quick fire: engineers, finance, and teamwork
(00:50:00) - Founder takeaways: customer demand and cost parity
Links and Resources:
Again Bio.
Max Kufner LinkedIn
Startup, Again: Turning CO₂ Emissions into Carbon-negative Chemicals
Again acquires Geno to combin…
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204. Moore's Law Than Meets the Eye: Michael Wright's Blueprint at Biomimetics International
23 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 14 min
Michael Wright, founder of Biomimetics International, joins Grow Everything to explain how learning from nature can reshape the way we design products, build businesses, and scale emerging industries. Drawing on decades in semiconductors and high technology, he describes biomimetics as learning from nature’s tested systems, from burr inspired Velcro to shark skin that reduces drag, while emphasizing that copying a biological function is not enough if a product cannot return safely to the biosphere. He introduces the Biosverse, nature’s third number, and generational cost of ownership as ways to account for environmental liabilities that traditional business models may overlook. The conversation explores how digital and biological systems converge, why biotech can learn from semiconductor standards and roadmaps, how AI might benefit from a more nurturing and accountable design approach, and why leaders should ask, “Do you know what you do does?” Michael’s vision is a mindset shift that brings nature into the design process before we build, then measures whether innovations can serve communities and remain compatible with the living world. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Grow Everything opening and biotech headlines, from fall foliage to food systems for Mars
(00:07:00) FDA inspections, peptide manufacturing, and the importance of knowing where products come from
(00:14:00) Michael Wright’s semiconductor career and the path to biomimetics
(00:21:00) How digital and biological systems converge, from precision agriculture to digital water
(00:28:00) The Biosverse, biosphere compatibility, …
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203. The Valley of Do: Karl & Erum Orchestrate Bio-Ecosystems at Bioinnovations Conference
16 oktober 2026 · 49 min
At Bio Innovations in Omaha and an adjacent investor gathering in Houston, Grow Everything hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan unpack the shift reshaping the bioeconomy: scientific discovery is becoming faster and less expensive, while deployment, scale up, and durable partnerships have become the real competitive advantage. They share conversations from the conference floor on the missing middle between bench science and commercial production, the Midwest’s feedstock and infrastructure advantage, the need for early technoeconomic discipline, and how corporates can give innovators clearer demand and specification targets. From pilot facilities and downstream processing to waste to value opportunities and resilient domestic supply chains, this recap maps the practical work required to turn biological innovation into products that matter. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Halloween, food dyes, and a motel room microbiology discovery
(00:05:29) The fire microbe and the promise of extremophiles for manufacturing
(00:07:46) AI agents, scientific discovery, and physical laboratories
(00:14:43) Bio Innovations recap: Omaha infrastructure meets Houston capital
(00:18:00) Discovery is cheaper, but deployment is the whole game
(00:22:24) The missing middle: pilots, ecosystems, and the valley of do
(00:26:45) Business models, corporate demand clarity, and consumer framing
(00:34:40) Scale up lessons: feasibility, downstream processing, and tech transfer
(00:42:28) Waste to value, bioeconomic resilience, and what comes next
Links and Resources:
Bioinnovations
Steve Bray - TritenIAG
Philli…
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202. Setting Sail for Biotech Scale: Jenny Rooke Steers Innovators at Genoa Venture
9 oktober 2026 · 54 min
Genoa Ventures founder and managing director Jenny Rooke joins Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez to explore bioconvergence, the expanding frontier where biology meets AI, automation, materials science, and real world business building. Drawing on her journey from physics and genetics to venture capital, Jenny explains why durable bio based companies must pair novel science with clear customer demand, disciplined scale up, and a path to meaningful commercial value. The conversation examines lessons from early synthetic biology, the realities of biomanufacturing at scale, next generation clinical assessment tools, and why founders working between traditional tech and biotech categories need investors who understand both. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Climate Week, bioliteracy, and biology as a climate solution
(00:03:00) America’s Living Library Act and the case for sampling public lands
(00:07:00) State microbes, public engagement, and the future of bioliteracy
(00:10:00) Erum’s biomanufacturing course and designing food safe colors
(00:15:00) Introducing Jenny Rooke and Genoa Ventures
(00:17:00) From physics and genetics to investing in science based companies
(00:20:00) The Genoa sail: founder autonomy, trust, and avoiding fatal mistakes
(00:22:00) What defines a bioconvergence company
(00:24:00) Why biotechnology needs a broader frame than pharma
(00:26:00) Lessons from synthetic biology’s first wave and the impact of AI
(00:28:00) Matching company timelines to biology, markets, and venture returns
(00:29:00) The future of clinical assessment tools and actionable health data
(00:…
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201. Out of Cell Experience: Michael Heltzen Drives Pure Chemistry at eXoZymes
2 oktober 2026 · 50 min
Michael Heltzen, CEO of Exozymes, joins Grow Everything to explain how cell free biomanufacturing is opening new possibilities for natural products, nutraceuticals, and medicines. Michael shares why engineered enzymes can make high purity molecules without relying on living cells, how Exozymes moved its NCT program from discovery toward commercial manufacturing in less than two years, and why its capital light partnership model is central to scaling impact. The conversation also explores AI guided enzyme design, digital twins for manufacturing, rare cannabinoids, downstream processing, and the disciplined focus required to turn a broad biotechnology platform into real products. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Michael Heltzen and the Exozymes mission
(00:05:00) Why cell free manufacturing can unlock inaccessible natural products
(00:10:00) Combining molecular biology, computation, and AI guided enzyme design
(00:15:00) From laboratory platform to industrial scale production
(00:20:00) Commercial partnerships and the NCT market opportunity
(00:25:00) Rare cannabinoids and a new toolkit for medicinal chemistry
(00:30:00) The capital light licensing model for biomanufacturing
(00:35:00) Downstream processing, purity, and investor skepticism
(00:40:00) The future of sustainable enzyme driven chemical manufacturing
(00:45:00) Key takeaways on focus, partnerships, and platform innovation
Links and Resources:
eXoZymes
eXoZymes Awarded $2 Million NIH Grant to Advance Cannabinoid Analogs for Drug Discovery
eXoZymes’ Cell-Free Biomanufacturing Platform Gets Positive Feedback from Cayman …
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200. That's One Cell of a Machine: Jason Kelly of Gingko Automates Labs to Accelerate Discovery
25 september 2026 · 1 uur 29 min
For the 200th episode of Grow Everything, Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan talk with Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks and former chair of the US National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, about why biology is still so hard to engineer. Jason explains why a cell is the only coded substrate we have besides a computer, why the real bottleneck is tooling rather than ideas, and why Ginkgo moved from royalty based research partnerships to selling robotic hardware and lab data as a service. Using a subway, car and Waymo analogy, he separates automation from autonomy and makes the case for replacing the manual lab bench, which eats roughly 97 percent of research spending while running 40 hours out of 168. He walks through Ginkgo's Boston system of 105 robots running 24/7, new autonomous labs for MIT, Caltech, Northwestern and the University of Maryland, and the OpenAI project where GPT-5 ran 30,000 experiments a week and beat state of the art in cell free protein synthesis by 40 percent. He also lays out the policy stakes as drug discovery shifts to China, and why the day biology becomes predictably easier to engineer, biotech gets bigger than tech. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) A cell is a machine that can do a million other things
(00:07:00) AI data centers, contamination, and the waste to value opportunity
(00:14:00) Biosecurity, guardrails, and who is accountable for AI in biology
(00:21:00) Ginkgo's mission: programming a computer you did not design
(00:28:00) Why Ginkgo reset its business model from royalties to tools and data
(00:34:00) Subway, car, Way…
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199. Space, the Final Fermenter: Mario Maggio Brews Biology in Orbit with Ambrosia Space
18 september 2026 · 49 min
Biology may be the most important technology we take off planet, and Mario Maggio is building the hardware to prove it. The founder and CEO of Ambrosia Space joins Erum Azeez Khan and Karl Schmieder to explain why space bioprocessing has been stuck at 10 to 20 milliliters while bench scientists on Earth work at 250 milliliters and beyond, and what changes when a two and a half liter fed batch bioreactor with pH, dissolved oxygen, and total cell density sensors finally flies. Mario traces his path from aerospace propulsion and the Nova C lunar lander at Intuitive Machines to life support systems at Paragon and Axiom Space, and the realization that biology is the best CO2 scrubber, oxygen source, and chemical factory available for long duration missions where petroleum, farms, and easy resupply do not exist. The conversation digs into the engineering reality of fluids and gas in microgravity, why glass and ceramics never fly, the stainless steel and aluminum builds that replace them, the intentional and unintentional bacteria that come with building a bioreactor from scratch, and the NASA TechLeap winning CellSep continuous flow centrifuge that carries cells and secreted products into downstream processing without gravity. Mario also lays out the near term commercial case, from protein crystallization and monoclonal antibodies that behave differently in orbit to biofuels, vitamin production, medicines, and the big silver tanks that will feed astronauts because there will be no farms or cattle. He offers a candid read on artificial gravity gradients, why the Moon matters for building large vehicles in space, and why the same hardware that grows yeast for beer on Mars becomes the root of better biomanufacturing on Earth. Erum and Karl open with field notes from Bio Innovations North America in Omaha, including Midwest feedstock advantage, consortia momentum, the 30 percent of cost hiding in downstream processing, and why Smucker and Mars are actively scouting biotech i… Lees meer
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198. A Grain of Truth: Chef Pierre Thiam Scaled Fonio Without Losing Its Roots
11 september 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
Chef and entrepreneur Pierre Thiam joins Grow Everything to explain how fonio, a resilient ancient grain from West Africa, can become a platform for biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, food security, and farmer prosperity. Pierre traces his journey from studying physics and chemistry to discovering the kitchen as a larger system connecting culture, health, ecology, and economics. He shares why fonio is nutritionally dense, gluten free, drought resistant, fast cooking, and versatile, as well as how Yolélé is building aggregation centers and modern processing infrastructure while keeping cultivation knowledge and ownership with smallholder farming communities. The conversation explores how biotechnology can complement biodiversity, why flavor must lead climate friendly food adoption, how underutilized crops can create clean label ingredients and new commercial markets, and why food can serve as a powerful tool for diplomacy and cultural understanding. For founders, scientists, investors, and builders in the bioeconomy, Pierre offers a human centered model of innovation that begins with nature, respects generational knowledge, and uses technology to unlock solutions that have been in front of us all along. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Why flavor must lead sustainable food adoption
(00:07:00) Artificial intelligence for science and protein design
(00:14:00) Pierre Thiam connects cooking, chemistry, culture, and diplomacy
(00:21:00) What fonio tastes like and why chefs love its versatility
(00:28:00) Scaling fonio through farmer centered supply chains and global markets
(00:35:00) Hum…
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197. What’s in Your Cart? A Grocery Store Walkthrough of Next-Gen Food Innovation
4 september 2026 · 16 min
Food technology is moving from farms and petrochemicals into bioreactors, fungi, engineered crops, and circular feedstocks. In this Grow Everything highlights episode, Erum Azeez and Karl Schmieder visit six stops across the grocery store to explore sweet proteins from Oobli, fermentation derived colorants from MycoFutures and Chromologics, the antioxidant rich purple tomato from Norfolk Healthy Produce, fungi based proteins from The Better Meat Co. and MyForest Foods, sargassum derived ingredients from Origin by Ocean, and the hard commercial work of getting emerging products onto retail shelves. For founders, scientists, investors, and builders across synthetic biology and sustainable materials, the central lesson is clear: fermentation is manufacturing, environmental problems can become valuable feedstocks, and biology wins when performance, taste, branding, and price are better for the customer. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Food technology innovations hidden across the grocery store
(00:01:57) Why fermentation should be understood as manufacturing
(00:03:02) Oobli sweet proteins replace sugar with tiny amounts of protein
(00:04:35) Fermentation creates powerful natural colors for food brands
(00:06:20) The purple tomato brings biotechnology into the produce aisle
(00:08:11) The Better Meat Co. grows nutrient rich mycoprotein in bioreactors
(00:09:54) MyForest Foods turns oyster mushroom mycelium into bacon
(00:11:15) Origin by Ocean transforms invasive sargassum into useful ingredients
(00:12:34) Startup CPG explains what gets emerging brands onto shelves
(00:13:50) Why biolo…
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196. Beyond the Red Tape: Greg Jaffe on Policy as an Accelerator for Bio-Innovation
28 augustus 2026 · 56 min
Biotech is moving fast, but regulation, public trust, and infrastructure still shape how quickly new ideas reach the market. In this episode of Grow Everything, Greg Jaffe joins Karl Schmieder to explore the regulatory future of the bioeconomy, drawing on Greg’s experience in environmental law, consumer advocacy, and as the USDA’s chief regulatory officer. They discuss why founders need to think about regulatory strategy early, how production methods, product claims, and intended use can dramatically change the path through agencies like USDA, EPA, and FDA, and why clear oversight can help build the trust emerging technologies need to scale. Greg and Karl also examine the regional nature of biomanufacturing, the importance of rural infrastructure and local partnerships, and why the future of the bioeconomy will require coordinated policy, stronger market demand, international access, and regulatory pathways that support innovation while protecting public confidence. Lees meer
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and speak with the leaders and innovators using biology to change the world. Biology is the world’s oldest technology, and it can be engineered. So, what are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Intro: Moderna cancer vaccine news, Sargassum in Miami, and K18’s viral hairball activation
(00:13:00) Greg Jaffe’s path from environmental law to biotech policy
(00:16:30) Why the coordinated framework for biotechnology still matters
(00:20:00) What biotech startups need to understand about USDA, EPA, and FDA
(00:25:15) How claims, intent, and language can change a regulatory pathway
(00:28:15) Why public trust is essential for biomanufactured food and biotech products
(00:31:30) How biotech regulation differs in the United States, Africa, and Southeast Asia
(00:35:20) Why biomass and bioma…
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- Categorieën
- Wetenschap , Levenswetenschappen
- Status
- Loopt nog
- Verschijnt
- Elke week
- Lengte
- Meestal 1 uur
- Afleveringen
- 207
- Laatste aflevering
- 30 oktober 2026
- Eerste aflevering
- 8 november 2022
- Taal
- Engels