- Kallyope raised $66 M to develop drugs targeting the gut-brain axis, highlighting investor interest in microbiome-based therapeutics.  
- Real-time single-molecule imaging shows that a single condensin complex can extrude tens of kilobases of DNA at up to 1,500 bp/s, strictly asymmetrically and ATP-dependently (Science 2018).  
- Discussion questioned whether Catalog’s “DNA data storage” platform actually uses DNA or an alternative 60-ink polymer/ligation chemistry, raising concerns about incomplete products and error-correction overhead at high speeds.  
- Participants debated the existence of aerobic nitrogen fixation, referencing the retracted claim for Streptomyces thermoautotrophicus and the broader challenge of protecting nitrogenase from oxygen.  
- BioOverlay.org was noted as a peer-review-like platform that mirrors academic review except for the submission stage.  
- IARPA’s MIST program (BAA-18-03) was flagged as a funding opportunity relevant to multiplexed biochemical assays.  
- A flurry of synthetic-biology papers was shared, covering DNA-assembly standards, chromatin-based transcriptional circuits, synthetic epigenetic memory, diatom episomes, and whole-genome transfer from bacteria to yeast.  
- Speculation on ultra-fast DNA synthesis considered polymerase fusion proteins, nanopore-driven 100 kbp/s translocation, and the physical limits imposed by dNTP supply and cellular resource allocation.  
- Several advanced nucleotide chemistries were highlighted: boranophosphate mimics, Cy-dye-substituted “CyDNA,” and polymerases evolved to accept non-natural chromophore monomers without hydrogen-bonding constraints.