Summary

Michael and Eoin gave a presentation that focused on companies who are engineering life at the level of the atom, the cell, and the neuron. The ability to engineer matter or re-engineer matter, both living and non-living, at the atomic level has been the key industrial story of the decade. Thermo Fisher makes cryogenic electron microscopes that allow us to see to tremendous resolution the scales of life. For manipulating life look at gene editing and advances in CRISPR. Advances in Artificial Intelligence has allowed us to model life at these scales and spin through a huge variety of potential structures for molecules. Companies including Berkeley Lights and Oxford Nanopore have developed instruments that allow us to discover how cellular life operates, how it exchanges signals, how it grows and how it can be manipulated.

Michael focuses on non-living matter as has spent over four decades analysing semiconductors and computer architectures. His presentation focused on quantum computing. Quantum computers are being developed through subatomic particles and quantum mechanics. He says their arrival will bring a dramatic paradigm shift. The US and Chinese are engaged in a race to develop the first machine, with US ahead through technologies at IBM, Google and Microsoft and some very interesting start-ups including IonQ. They specialise in engineering cubits by trapping ions in which, along with Honeywell, they are the market leader. Quantum cloud operations is where the technologies are being developed, but so far, such technologies are primitive and can only do some rudimentary optimisation, such as Goldman Sachs using cloud devices to optimise options portfolios. Roche is carrying out electric molecular medicine experiments and VW has runs optimum routes for busses in crowded cities. Don’t expect a complete quantum computer before 2030.

Michael went on discuss solar energy conversion, referencing Elon Musk’s assertion that with one hundred square miles of solar panels, supported by 10 square miles of batteries, you could power the US. However, converting sunlight to electrical current only runs at 15 to 20% efficiency. Investors should look at Oxford Nano for exposure to perovskite, a material that would bring 30% efficiency, enabling solar to be competitive and the potential fulfilment of Musks’s goals. Carbon nanotubes, with the potential to be superconductors, are very close to the graphene, a wonder material that could transform everything - but something that we still cannot produce enough of on an industrial scale. This will be the game changer in the semiconductor space. Watch the company Nantero working with Fujitsu to produce these nanotubes. Quantum dots are nano materials made up from cadmium and indium used to covert energy in the form of light in the television industry. Samsung is the biggest user of quantum dots. Nanosys is the biggest producer, backed by Dell.

Eoin focused on living matter and highlighted companies involved in the broad theme of un-natural selection. He focused on crop production and the company Pivot Bio which has developed a bio fertiliser based on a deep study of nature’s toolkit. The fertiliser is extremely efficient at feeding nitrogen to the plant, significantly boosting productivity and reducing the amount of fertiliser required. Analysing Syngenta, Eoin touched on how CRISPR has enabled them to develop disease resistant crops. Similarly, Genus have used CRISPR to carry out gene editing to engineer cell lines for cattle and other livestock. Berkeley Lights work with human cells, showing how we can radically speed up the pace of cell and structure genotype discovery to produce vaccines quickly. Oxford Nanopore, soon to IPO, essentially carries out genomic global surveillance of DNA. Signum have written a report that spells out how they think the push to sequence, read, and store genetic information will lead to a bio-internet and the implications of the US and China being able to collect vast data sets and efficiently source and sequence genetic information for crops, viruses, or people. They discussed how nanomedicine was maturing with the use of electron microscopes, simulation, and gene editing. Nanoparticles allow virus to be attacked through its own, conserved, cell-binding features; this is multi-point, multi-targeted therapeutics. Michael Levin has done extensive studies on Xenobots which show that we can manipulate life above the level of the genome. Novocure has been using alternative electric fields to grow skin and reduce the size of tumours.

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