Harvard's Office of Technology Development and LabCentral invite you to the latest event in the Guppy Tank series, where two teams of Harvard life-science innovators will pitch their concepts to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors for constructive, in-depth feedback.

Please join us on November 30 from 4 to 6 p.m. to learn from experts on startup formation and participate in giving audience feedback. Networking reception to follow.

Register here

This "episode" features...

Innovation Team 1:
GRO Biosciences (GRObio): Genomically Recoded Organisms for Production of High-value Protein Therapeutics
Presented by Dan Mandell (George Church Lab) – Harvard Medical School and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering

GroBio developed a platform to inexpensively produce disulfide-bearing high value biologics with improved chemical stability and longer half-lives. Proteins are produced inside genomically recoded organisms (GROs) that can incorporate selenocysteine – a naturally occurring essential amino acid – in lieu of cysteine, thus enabling production of irreducible chemical bonds that form and persist inside microbes or blood serum. The team is seeking advice regarding prioritization of target products and fundraising for the startup.

Innovation Team 2:
3D-Brain Organoids: Enabling Discovery Through Patient-derived Brain Organoids
Presented by Paola Arlotta, Harvard Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology and Harvard Stem Cell Institute

The Arlotta team is developing a 3D brain organoid platform which makes it possible to study aspects of human brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders in a format amenable to large-scale production and genetic engineering. These organoids reach extended levels of maturity, generating many cell types of the endogenous tissue and mature neuronal traits and circuits. They can be formed from patient-derived neuronal cell populations and thus hold the potential to become a unique tool to define clinically relevant neuronal circuits and discover therapies for complex neurological disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. The team hopes to get feedback helpful in identifying and prioritizing potential target applications and indications.