We transform insects into efficient, living bioreactors

Since the beginning of industrial manufacturing we have designed processes which are linear. The only metric has been faster and cheaper means of production without a lens towards life cycle analysis or long term impact on the planet. The result being greenhouse gas emissions leading to the current state of climate crisis. Fortunately, with the development of better genetic editing tools and genomic sequencing of the diversity of organisms on our planet, we are armed with Biology and an opportunity unlike ever before to build the world 2.0. With the selection of right chassis systems, we have the opportunity to design processes that enable a new era of biomanufacturing while solving for the challenges created by the previous era- organic and inorganic waste contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. We at Buzz Biolabs aim to create a true circular bioeconomy by developing the first genetically engineered black soldier fly (BSF) platform.

According to the UN Food Waste Index report  ⅓ of the food produced globally goes to waste. This food is disposed of by incineration or landfill, and little is re-used as feed or processed through composting. The global carbon footprint of food waste and loss (FWL) was estimated to be around 3-4 Gt of CO2 eq./year, representing 8% of the total human-caused GHG emissions [1]. Hermetia illucens, also known as the black soldier fly  or BSF is an insect with the innate ability to feed on diverse food sources, ranging from fruit, to vegetables, manure and other organic materials, and transform them into the fly’s biomass. First generation BSF companies grow BSF larvae, which are rich in protein and oils, and  refine them into products such as aqua-farming feed, pet food, and the leftover “frass”, high in nitrogen, can be used as fertilizer [2]. They have also solved several issues associated with industrial process scale-up, and developed technologies and know-how that allow them to produce tons of flies per day in each facility  (Fig.1) [3,4]. 

While on the other hand, current methods to produce biomolecules such as recombinant proteins, lipids and biomaterials rely on hard-to-scale processes carried out often in custom built bioreactors resulting in a large amount of energy consumption and waste streams.

At Buzz Biolabs we are transcending from the traditional use of the BSF solely for animal feed by genetically engineering it into efficient, miniaturized bioreactors that can be harnessed for advancing the bioeconomy. Our groundbreaking approach leverages their innate ability of biomass conversion to produce high-value proteins, such as enzymes and growth factors, or to engineer complete degradation pathways towards bioremediation. This approach allows us access diverse markets, while tackling the problem of different waste accumulation that are leading to the current climate crisis. 

At Buzz Biolabs we aim to build the first genetically engineered BSF platform, towards solving the problem of waste and converting it into high value products. In the short term, the BSF platform would enable us to achieve the synthesis of biomolecules sustainably from waste and in the long term pursue pathway engineering in the BSF to tackle long-standing problems such as plastic degradation, bioremediation, etc. 

Our moonshot goal is to engineer the BSF with a complex biodegradation pathway that would allow it to degrade plastic when fed to it, a feat that has never been attempted before. We aim to achieve this by dividing the moonshot into smaller achievable goals of genetically engineering the BSF to produce commercially critical high-value proteins with varying degree of complexity thereby creating sellable products while building the know-how necessary and creating an extensive IP moat.

Genetically engineering BSF and creating a platform solution as well as creating high-value products from them helps us serve multiple industries ranging from generation one BSF companies who have so far contacted us to create flies that can grow on feed with pesticides (right now they grow on specialized feed only), underutilizing its circular capabilities and not truly creating a circular economy.

With our platform, every industry needing recombinant biomolecules can get them sustainably synthesized. In the long run, our moon shot goal is to engineer complete pathways into this organism capable of degrading forever chemicals like PFAS, plastic etc. This will benefit all nations across the globe and especially the communities that live near these waste streams and have been more and more exposed to contaminating pollutants.

Nimi Vashi, the CEO of Buzz Biolabs, has built and run a therapeutics program of two Biotech companies and brings in an experience of developing the scientific strategy, business development as well as bringining in partnerships and licensing deals for these comapnies. As the CEO of Buzz Biolabs she would be responsible for doing in customer discovery and bringing more and more industries to our platform thereby decarbonizing them.

Dr. Valentino Gantz, CSO of Buzz Biolabs, has pioneered the creation of CRISPR-based gene drives in insects and has extensive experience in insect genome editing, including work in the Drosophila fruit fly , in the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi, and the yellow fever vector Culex quinquefasciatus. Furthermore, Dr. Gantz has also shown that different biomolecules can be expressed, successfully in insects such as the CRISPR nuclease Cas9 , small guide-RNAs, fluorescent proteins, and of nano-bodies. Based on pioneering data and patents generated by him thus far we are confident of our ability to develop a genetically engineered black soldier fly platform.

We started with bootstrapping the cultivation of Black Soldier Flies (BSF) by creating a lab in our apartment and our initial experiments. We have also been awarded the CA Cares grant of 50,000 USD from the Government of California for our proof of concept experiments. We also won multiple awards at iGEM and are currently optimizing microinjection within the fly to create the Cas9-BSF .

Parallely, on the customer discover end, we have identified the needs of the industry and secured LOI’s worth 500,000 USD.

MIT Solve provides an unparalleled entrepreneurial training and network, for successful development of startups building hard-tech solutions to solve climate change. During this fellowship we aim to achieve
validation of our business model and strategy, develop a robust techno-economic analysis and a strategic plan towards capturing the highest value from commercialization of our platform with both proprietary products and through partnerships. The network of mentors at this stage would be invaluable to accelerate the process and give critical feedback on our assumptions and blindspots at these early stages. Further a community of fellow founders, each building a hard solution is symbiotic and critical for founders in hard tech and climate. Further we would want to implement our solutions in many countries and MIT solve has funded comapnies which are generation one Black SOldier fliy comapnies and those making other materials who would all be great partners for our technology and solution.

Overall, this fellowship would help us position Buzz Biolabs in a prime spot for both the next fundraising milestone, develop pipeline products and establish co-development partnerships to increase our platform’s value.

Our monetization strategy will be to build proprietary, high value products. 

Our first product would be the Cas9-BSF as it enables us to create a CRISPR Fly for the first time as well as enables us to isolate the protein Cas9 and sell it as a product. While the CRISPR- Fly enables us to begin synthesizing a spectrum of high value proteins, for which we have received a lot of interest from the industry (LOI’s amounting to 500,000 USD), the CRISPR-CAS9 reagent market size is 831.6 million USD, growing at a CAGR of 21.7%.

Next, we aim to venture into high value peptides such as GLP-1 agonists, enzyme replacement therapies, antibodies and vaccines for both humans and animals.

In summary our business strategy is to continue to do customer discovery and identify high value protein production opportunities lacking biomanufacturing infrastructure.