SBR2027 · Newsletter archive · 4 issues
The Biological Awakening
A dispatch from the century of biology
Felix Ernst writes the SynBioReactor newsletter: essays on where synthetic biology is heading, in the lab and in the economy, with voices from research, venture capital and industry. Here is every issue so far, exactly as it landed in the inbox.
By Felix Ernst · extended essays on Substack →All issues
In order of sending · Sept 2026 – Nov 2026
- 26.1 · Sept 2026
Ledger 26.1ReadWelcome to the Dialogue Era
2 guests · 6 min
The newsletter returns with a question: what is a cell telling me? Felix Ernst on growth coupling as co-creation with evolution, and on why the field needs polymaths who can translate between academia and industry.
- 26.2 · Oct 2026
Ledger 26.2ReadFrom a mature science to the Interspecies Economy
3 guests · 6 min
Synthetic biology stops micromanaging life and lets evolution do the heavy lifting. Plus a conversation with René Inckemann on dandelion rubber, and the new SynBioReactor dates.
- 26.3 · Oct 2026
Ledger 26.3ReadA new look at artificial intelligence in biology
JF2 guests · 7 min
AI models hold four billion years of evolutionary statistics, yet only the cell can answer. Why functional measurement is the real bottleneck, and why the wet lab just became the most valuable place in the world.
- 26.4 · Nov 2026
Ledger 26.4ReadLatestWhy we need the Corporate Shaman
1 guest · 6 min
Stop industrializing biology, start biologizing industry. Who takes nature's seat on the board — and why it could decide your next pitch. With Hannah Wayment-Steele on whether molecules are dancers or machines.
The next issue
Read it first
The essays arrive as they are finished, and nothing else does. Plus speaker news and ticket windows for SynBioReactor 2027, 19–20 January in Berlin.