Researchers opened the doors Monday to the new Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology, a collaboration between the Allen Institute, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the University of Washington.
The hub combines “academic creativity with startup-style industrial execution,” said Jesse Gray, senior director of scientific operations and strategy, who was previously head of discovery at gene editing startup Ascidian Therapeutics.
The hub’s first main goal is to build a “biological recorder mouse,” enabling researchers to track biological actions such as cell divisions and molecular signaling in a live mouse across time.
Monday’s tour took place at the hub’s labs at Dexter Yard, a life sciences development in the South Lake Union neighborhood across from the Allen Institute, which is contributing $35 million to the hub over the next five years.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is providing the same amount, and the UW is a source of foundational technology for the new hub.
