@NonfictionBio
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Some exciting news to share — we've made the world's first magnetically controlled antibody! What is a magnetically controlled antibody? It's an antibody drug that you can turn on and off, wherever you want in the body. (1/9) x.com/ashleevance/st…View quoted post on X
The Magnetobiology Episode:
A company in San Francisco, called @NonfictionBio, is building proteins (like antibodies and enzymes) that can be controlled using small magnets.
In this episode, co-founder Maria Ingaramo and scientific advisor Andrew York explain how they engineered a protein, MagLOV, that responds strongly to magnetic fields, why most prior attempts have failed to replicate, and how the mechanism of magnetically-controlled proteins actually works. They also get into the “dream” use cases, like cancer drugs that activate only at the tumor, which might have a lower toxicity inside the body. This podcast is made possible by @AsteraInstitute.
I'm happy with how this episode came out. I think my interviewing skills are improving, and I'm getting better at building up context throughout the episode. Enjoy!
Search for "The New Biology" on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Opening
00:54 — Introduction
01:35 — The dream
05:38 — Why magnets vs. light or ultrasound
10:05 — The physics
17:48 — On the name "magnetogenetics"
21:25 — Birds and cryptochromes
27:09 — Why is the field filled with so much junk?
29:51 — Adam Cohen's molecule
33:24 — Markus Meister’s debunking
38:06 — The experiment
46:22 — Finding the LOV domain
54:11 — Singlets, triplets, and cysteine
56:54 — What the magnet is actually doing
1:05:13 — The conformational-change red herring
1:12:46 — The Quantum Biology Institute
1:19:31 — Founding Nonfiction Labs
1:24:38 — How to convince skeptical investors
1:29:39 — What a magnetogenetic medicine might look like
1:38:50 — First clinical indications
1:45:12 — The regulatory path
1:48:01 — What the field needs
1:54:30 — Appendix: Whiteboard lectureView quoted post on X
