Recombinant DNA Technologies

A new technology doesn't have to completely replace an existing one to succeed. It needs to create enough value in the right application to earn a place in the product.

Alternative fats provide an interesting example of why it can be better to start with the problem rather than the technology.

Don't Start With the Technology

Don't Start With the Technology | Branden Wolner, PhD 🔬 A new technology doesn't have to replace what came before to succeed. It has to create enough value in the right application to earn a place in the product. A recent discussion about alternative fats reinforced something I've been thinking about more broadly: start with the problem, not the technolo...

A power outage, a medtech conference, and another Iron Triangle.

Field Notes: What Happens When the Lights Go Out - Recombinant DNA Technologies Sometimes the most interesting thing you see at a conference isn’t something you went there looking for. Yesterday I attended a bicoastal medtech conference connecting groups in San Diego and Baltimore. A power outage interrupted the program, leaving those of us in San Diego with a couple of hours...

Alternative meat has had a rough few years. But perhaps we've been asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking whether plant proteins, precision fermentation and biomass fermentation can recreate animal-derived foods, what if we ask what these technologies are really good at - and where they create the most value?

Read more: Just Okay Isn't Okay: Rethinking the Future of Alternative Protein.

Just Okay Isn't Okay: Rethinking the Future of Alternative Protein. I’ve said it before. “Just okay isn’t okay.

R&D can be making real scientific progress and still be moving away from what the company needs.

Priorities change. Requirements change. New findings change what we know. Staying aligned means periodically checking whether the work still matches the destination.

The right priority today may be the wrong priority six months from now. Not because the project failed. Not because it was a bad decision. But because the assumptions that made it a priority changed.… | Branden Wolner, PhD 🔬 The right priority today may be the wrong priority six months from now. Not because the project failed. Not because it was a bad decision. But because the assumptions that made it a priority changed. Six months ago, a company had 24 months of runway. There was enough time and money to pursue several...

R&D can be making real scientific progress and still be moving away from what the company needs.

Priorities change. Requirements change. New findings change what we know. Staying aligned means periodically checking whether the work still matches the destination.

One of the hardest things for scientists to accept is that an interesting question isn't necessarily a useful question. New findings point in an unexpected direction. It's interesting, potentially… | Branden Wolner, PhD 🔬 One of the hardest things for scientists to accept is that an interesting question isn't necessarily a useful question. New findings point in an unexpected direction. It's interesting, potentially important, and worth understanding. So you follow it. One experiment leads to another. Before long, you...

Computational drug discovery has come a long way in 20 years. The models are dramatically more capable, but prediction still has to survive contact with the experiment.

The tools have changed. Biology still gets the final vote.

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Every screen has limitations. The key isn't always building a better screen - sometimes it's knowing which question each screen should answer.

A lesson from antimicrobial discovery that applies broadly across R&D.

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AI is changing the scale and speed of drug discovery, but faster screening doesn't eliminate one of the oldest challenges in R&D: Are you finding the right hits - and what might you be screening out?

A few thoughts inspired by a recent conversation with Akhila Kosaraju, MD, CEO and co-founder of Phare Bio.

If you're running a screen and concerned that you might be missing key hits, let's talk.

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FDAs recent actions are confusing, confounding and potentially dangerous. Read more here:

FDA proposes mandatory GRAS notifications in major overhaul of US food ingredient oversight | PPTI News | Branden Wolner, PhD 🔬 The FDA is proposing to replace so-called "self-GRAS" with mandatory filings. In and of itself, this makes some sense. The threshold for self-declaring your product as "Generally Recognized As Safe" is fairly low. But there is a tradeoff: cost. Building a solid GRAS filing to clear the "no questions...

Today: Constraints help you make decisions.

In my last post I talked about how constraints define what "better" means in molecular diagnostics. The same principle applies when the assay looks completely… | Branden Wolner, PhD 🔬 In my last post I talked about how constraints define what "better" means in molecular diagnostics. The same principle applies when the assay looks completely different. - PCR: primers must coexist under the same reaction conditions. - Lateral flow immunoassay: antibodies, membranes, flow, signal, a...