Bio-business idea

I would like to share a wacky business idea that might kill two birds with one stone.

I was in Thailand last week for a conference. Having spoken to several Thai researchers, I learned an interesting fact that the cost and the time for conducting even simple molecular biology researches are incredibly high. For example, cloning a few genes to one piece of DNA in Thailand could cost at least twice more money and construction time than in the US. Such extra cost and time result from lacking local providers for cheap and high quality basic molecular biology services such as DNA synthesis and sequencing. Consequently, reagents and intermediate construction products need to be shifted in and out of the country multiple times throughout the process, adding up to the total cost and time requires for construction.

Here in the Bay Area we have the largest and oldest DIYbio community, a group of biohackers who believe that biotechnological advance in the near future could be contributed by small, entrepreneurial business, rather than giant cooperates or academia. A community lab capable of doing basic molecular biology work already exists. Nonetheless, as far as I know, the community lab is currently only used as a teaching lab for amateur bioengineers, not as a place for running “bio business” as many of its early founders hoped for. The problem is that currently the community lab is not capable of producing something marketable. Biotechnology research still takes lots of time and money before one can start reaping profit; a small community lab is unlikely to be able to compete with giant biotech firms or well-funded academic labs.

What if, I think, we start a business in the community lab, not as a high-(bio)tech startup, but as “genetic engineering contractor”? What if we can take advantage of fast and cheap DNA synthesis/DNA sequencing services available in the US? What if we can build plasmids for researchers in Thailand (or other countries with similar cost + time problems)and shift to them at total cost and time less than two third of their current practices? I like a few aspects of this idea. First, we do not need any technological breakthrough before we can start making profit. Most of the work, especially in an early stage, is to optimize the supply chain (e.g., what to build in house, what to outsource to other companies, what and when to shift to customers, etc.). Later, if we like, we can try to find way to tweak the construction process here and there to drive down cost and time further. Second, most of routine lab work (cut & paste DNA, PCR, transformation, run gel) does not require expensive experts; it is possible to train high-school students to do that in a couple of weeks. Third, it is possible to prototype this business idea quickly at low cost. A few Thai researchers I spoke said they like the idea and are willing to give a try on some of their low-risk plasmid cloning projects.  Once we can demonstrate that we make things faster and cheaper (with enough room for profit), we can accept more order, advertise, scale up, etc.). Forth, we will be reaching out to larger scientific community and working on real problems people care about.

I still need think through this idea more carefully…

00.45 am 10 Oct 2012, Palo Alo, CA, USA