129. No Cells? No Problem! eXoZymes' Michael Heltzen on the Future of Microbe-Free Biotech

Episode notes

Erum sits down with Michael Heltzen, CEO of eXoZymes, to dive into the transformative world of cell-free biomanufacturing. Michael shares the origin story of ExoZymes - from a student bioengineering dream at UCLA to ringing the NASDAQ bell - and unpacks why scalability, sustainability, and design thinking are central to the next generation of biotech. If you're curious about how biology can be engineered without living cells, what it takes to commercialize breakthrough science, or how new business models in synthetic biology are emerging, this is the episode for you. Get ready to rethink what’s possible when biology breaks free from the cell wall. Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and interview the leaders and influencers changing the world by growing everything. Biology is the oldest technology. And it can be engineered. What are we growing?

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