We Accidentally Built a Synthetic Cell Factory

b.next, founded to improve interoperability in synthetic cell research, unexpectedly became a manufacturer of Cytosol—core materials needed to build cells—after discovering critical supply chain gaps in the synthetic biology field. The company spent nine months developing an open-access PURE system (a molecular platform for synthetic cells) and then had to build manufacturing capacity after key suppliers like Roche and Sigma discontinued essential reagents like tRNA. This shift from academic software platform to industrial-scale infrastructure highlights how synthetic cells require dedicated physical supply chains to advance from research to real-world applications.