Biotech Briefing: Second Annual March for Science Is This Saturday

Plus: UC San Diego microbiologist’s research helps make the best cheese, and San Diego startups raise more than 500 million venture dollars

Reports + Research

Second Annual March for Science Happens This Saturday

If you are reading this, you most likely care about science. This Saturday, join San Diego’s scientific community to highlight public demand for scientific rigor in all public policy debates and to enact evidence-based policies in the public interest. The March for Science starts at 10 a.m. downtown in front of the San Diego County Administration Building. The full schedule is here.

DYK Vertex’s Transformational Cystic Fibrosis Treatment Is from San Diego?

Not many people know that Vertex’s breakthrough treatment Kalydeco started as a project in San Diego’s Aurora Biosciences. Aurora was founded to advance in drug discovery Dr. Roger Tsien’s Nobel Prize winning GFP (green fluorescent protein) technology. Want to learn more? Here’s an interview with Fred van Goor, Ph.D., principle research fellow at Vertex, who helped advance the CF project in San Diego.

UC San Diego Microbiologist’s Research Helps Make the Best Cheese

When Rachel Dutton, Ph.D., sees cheese, it’s not just a tasty snack. It’s an entire tiny world. Understanding how complex microbiome environment varies for different cheeses could also inform how to improve human health and the health of the world around us. Not only that, but she has collaborated with kitchen innovators, including Momofuku’s David Chang, a known food scientist, and was the first microbiologist to work at Jasper Hill Farm. Read more about her delicious work here and here.

More than 500 Million in Venture Dollars Raised in Q1 by San Diego Biotech and Tech

Xconomy reports that 37 startups raised $547.2 million from venture capital investors in the first quarter of 2018. The top eight of 10 deals, totaling $445.1 million (81% of funds raised), were done by biotech companies, with Ideaya Biosciences leading with a $94 million crossover Series B financing.

Read + Listen

POW! Podcast of the Week

Are you more than your DNA? Does your DNA control you or do you control it? UC San Diego Health’s N=1 podcast, “You’re more than what’s coded in your DNA,” delves into those questions and more.

Events

It’s Happening Here

April 13
Biocom Presents: Tech Coast Angels Demo Day on April 13 at Biocom.

April 26
Xconomy’s Big Data Meets Big Biology takes place the afternoon of April 26 at The Alexandria on Torrey Pines Mesa.

April 30
TiE South Coast presents Women in STEM: Shattering the Glass Ceiling! at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS, on Monday, April 30 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.