genetic-circuits
(2)
Jacob Becraft
Jacob 'Jake' Becraft is the co-founder and CEO of Strand Therapeutics, a Boston biotech building the first programmable platform for mRNA medicines. Trained as a synthetic biologist at MIT, he helped invent what he calls a 'programming language for mRNA' - genetic circuits that let a drug make decisions inside the body, switching on only where and when it should. Strand's lead candidate, a self-replicating mRNA that instructs tumors to produce their own IL-12, delivered early complete responses in a first-in-human trial. Becraft has raised more than $400 million to chase the idea that programming biology will be as transformative for medicine as software was for computing.
Alec Nielsen
Alec Nielsen is the co-founder and CEO of Asimov, a Boston synthetic biology company building computer-aided design tools for living cells. His MIT PhD work in the Voigt Lab produced Cello, a programming language that compiles plain-text logic instructions into thousands of DNA letters. Asimov turned that academic breakthrough into a commercial platform for designing and manufacturing biologics, cell therapies, and gene therapies, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, DARPA, and a $175M Series B led by CPP Investments.