article thumbnail

Pluton Biosciences looks to nature for cutting-edge biotech solutions, raising $6.6M seed

TechCrunch

“There are a trillion species of microbes, and we only use a couple of them,” said Pluton founder and CTO Barry Goldman, who spent nearly two decades at Monsanto looking into similar ideas. “We’re trying to use that huge reservoir of biodiversity out there to solve big problems. 3D illustration.

Biotech 228
article thumbnail

Allozymes looks to upend chemical manufacturing with rapid enzyme engineering and $5M seed

TechCrunch

Part of the complex process that turns raw materials into finished products like detergents, cosmetics and flavors relies on enzymes, which facilitate chemical transformations. These large, complex molecules bind to other substances in a way that facilitates a chemical reaction, say turning sugars in a cell into a more usable form of energy.

Chemicals 230