Joseph Jackson | Co-Founder | Bio, Tech & Beyond
By making available many of the tools of modern life science research to anyone who want to use them, Bio, Tech and Beyond has taken the scientific research process out of the hands of a few massive corporations and large universities and placed it squarely in the hands of anyone with an idea. Whether you’re an academic researcher pursuing a hunch, a cancer patient who wants to cure your own disease, a biotech scientist with a skunkworks project, a retired pharma scientist with an idea you’ve always wanted to test, or a high school student who wants to change the world — Bio, Tech and Beyond can help turn your dream into a reality.
Me: Tell me about yourself, the team you worked with to build Bio Tech and Beyond and why did you build it?
Jackson: I am a Philosopher, Entrepreneur, investor working almost 10 years in open science and my aim is to bring open innovation. With regards to the team, we had partnership with the local government and they gave us unused buildings and assets in North San Diego. There are 20 companies in there and 20 benches. We build Bio, Tech, and Beyond because we wanted to change the way science has done and speed up biomedical research.
Me: How did you find the space and funding?
Jackson: We got a space in San Diego and it was challenging, it needs a dedicated co-worker. With the space, we needed to renovate everything to the lights, the walls and it’s a never ending beginning process. With the funds, we got donations.
Me: Was building the BTAB community hard? Who is/was part of the community?
Jackson: Again, challenge. People coming in and out for the first 6 months.
Me: What types of equipment did you find you needed and what were the challenges you encountered?
Jackson: It took up about 2 years to get everything. Microscope, Tape reader, HPLC Gas, GC Gas, HPLC, Protein Stuff etc.. We had 30 shared equipment like, water system, equipment for molecular biology, PH meter and others.
Me: What types of projects have you and the BTB team worked on?
Jackson: Diagnostics, therapies (any bodies), crisper, genome, agriculture, pesticides, biomarkers, drug deliveries and pain fellers.
Me: What do you see as the future for biohacking in San Diego and globally?
Jackson: Few years from now, people are getting more sophisticated, more interaction and more professionalism. Also few in the area have established incubator like Johnsons & Johnsons.
Globally? It will continue to spread more than a dozen of groups. Actually, there were someone recently asking about putting up a lab in Israel. Biotech is an expensive hobby.
Originally published at www.bio.science.
