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About b.next
Hraness cites a source capture. The source author remains the source.
gist
b.next is a San Francisco synthetic-cell company founded in 2023 by Stanford PhDs who helped launch US Build A Cell. Frustrated that the field grew while reproducible cell-building stalled, they build shared open-core infrastructure (Nucleus specs and DevNotes), physical reagents and manufacturing (Cytosol kits and a pilot plant), and real-world applications with partners. Backers include Schmidt Sciences, Astera, Sloan, DARPA, NSF, and ARIA. By 2026 they report 105 Cytosol kits shipped, 21 labs using Cytosol, and work with 13 labs across the US and UK.
ideas
- Shared infrastructure, not lone papers. Reproducing a result felt like a full project, so b.next exists to make synthetic-cell work composable across labs.
- Three-part strategy. Open Core (specs, methods, Nucleus), Physical Infrastructure (reagents, hardware, automation), and Applications that translate synthetic cells into sensing, health, and other uses.
- Progress is already measurable. 105 Cytosol kits shipped, 21 labs using Cytosol, 42 Nucleus DevNotes, and 13 collaborating labs in the US and UK.
- Funded as public scientific capacity. Grants and programs from Schmidt Sciences, Astera ($4.9M), Sloan, DARPA, NSF, and ARIA underwrite open PURE, workshops, and AI-scientist R&D.
- Leadership comes from Build-a-Cell. Akshay Maheshwari, Anton Jackson-Smith, Anton Molina, and Jon Calles bring Stanford synthetic-cell and open-hardware practice into a company form.
quotes
“We believe that no single organization has the expertise required to realize the full potential of synthetic cells.”
“Make interoperable synthetic cell engineering possible with collaborative tools, validated specifications, and standardized methods.”
“reproducing a paper felt like a full research project.”
“My dream is to bring the creativity and collaboration of software engineering to bioengineering”