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This Week in Startups

E998: The Next Unicorns: Benchling CEO & Co-founder Sajith Wickramasekara is increasing efficiency for scientists with a cloud-based platform, gives insights on recent life-science innovations, ethics of gene therapy & defining the line between quackery & brilliance – E10 of 10-ep miniseries

This Week in Startups

Jason Calacanis

Technology

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2019

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

0:53 Jason intros Sajith Wickramasekara
1:40 What does Benchling do?
2:24 How did Sajith get into life science?
6:55 Benchling's value proposition for scientists
9:04 How do they charge?
10:43 Is Chamath Palihapitiya the most famous Sri Lankan in the US?
13:25 Why immunotherapy is the most exciting development in life science
19:00 3D Printing & harvesting organs in other species
20:50 Ethics of editing a human embryo
28:19 How did the scientific community respond to the embryo controversy
29:52 Breakthroughs in gene therapy
34:09 Defining the line between quackery & brilliance
42:37 Upside & downside of genetically modified crops
47:54 What is the best approach for breakthroughs in life science?

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:13.0

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0:20.4

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0:21.4

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0:24.7

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0:30.3

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0:35.0

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0:39.6

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0:44.2

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0:49.2

your policy costs by using offer code twist ten. All right everybody, welcome to this week in startups.

0:56.0

It's going to be a good show today.

0:57.0

We're going to talk about the massive change that's happening in life science

1:01.0

and I've got a really amazing founder on the

1:03.8

podcast his name is the Jeth and here we go I'm part of the hard last name

1:08.4

club too and you go by Saaji but yeah Saigeth is how you pronounce your first name.

1:13.6

Sajeth.

1:14.6

Saajeth.

1:15.6

Sajeth, got it.

1:17.4

Wickrama sekura.

1:19.3

Wickrama sekora.

1:20.4

Pretty close.

...

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