Introducing: The Carbon Arc

A community-led campaign, directed at bridging the infamous Valley of Death.

At ValleyDAO, our community believes that engineering biology can restore balance in our climate by redesigning unsustainable processes. We exist in an unbalanced climate with excess greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane; a result of human utilisation of fossil fuels, as well as consumption of foods and materials with high carbon footprints. So, how can we restore balance with engineered biology? We can use engineered biological systems to replace standard industrial processes with climate-positive, biomanufactured alternatives.

2023 was an outstanding year for our community. As we talked about in our community Growth Update; in 12 months we hosted multiple in-person events, were at several conferences, secured over $1M in funding through the launch of the GROW token, saw the community grow fourfold, and funded our first project at Imperial College London - not to mention we provided crucial translational support to a spin-out from Denmark Technical University, BioHalo. 

The community is committed to helping translate climate-related synthetic biology projects out into the real world. As stated in our “What is DeSci?” video, synthetic biology has so much potential for creating sustainable economies and saving the climate - yet it can be so hard to get your climate biotech idea funded and translated into the real world. We can’t just let innovation be restricted to never leave the confines of a lab!

Which is why our community of 1,500+ members on Discord is taking the fight at the translational gap by announcing the first of many Arcs to come:

The Carbon Arc.

So, what is the Carbon Arc? Or rather, how do we expect to make a difference? Well first, let us give you a bit of background on what ValleyDAO has been up to until now, and why we’re doing this.

Like we said, big year for the mission. From talking about it at DeSci London, to iGEM, to our video explaining DeSci, we spread a lot of awareness about the Valley of Death in translational scientific funding. And that message resonated with all of you. Over the past year, thousands of people rallied to the cause. From artists to researchers, entrepreneurs and translational experts, a community formed with one mind: To bring innovative synthetic biology technology out into the real world - with the goal of supporting climate and planetary health.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology found that translating science takes infrastructure, a skilled workforce and plenty of access to funding. In short… you need social capital, and money. But most capital allocators are hesitant to invest in climate biotechnology because of high risks, difficulties in scaling the technology, and the particular challenging market conditions facing the biotechnology sector. Added to that, scientists aren’t collaborating as much as they used to which poses a significant challenge to the success of translating technologies from the lab bench to industry given their inherent reliance on multidisciplinary approaches.

In the face of this, our community has proven an innovative funding model with Imperial College London driving in a total of $280k in academic research funding, as well as pioneered a community-driven translational support model with BioHalo successfully raising $500k in venture funding. We were all driven by an enthusiasm for synthetic biology, and now we want to focus our collective efforts to where we see the most potential - and what better to start with than with the element that underpins it all? Carbon. 

Carbon is the backbone of all life on Earth - it’s present in every organic molecule. But humanity’s actions have significantly disrupted the natural carbon cycle. We release excessive carbon dioxide and methane through the rampant burning of fossil fuels and unmitigated deforestation - which is surprisingly still increasing year on year. We need to get back into balance with nature. Carbon emissions need to be minimized. We need to put brakes on its impact to our ecosystems. If we stop seeing carbon as a disposable byproduct and start seeing it as an asset to be harnessed, we can restore that balance. Synthetic biology can bridge this gap, letting us recycle the carbon in CO2 and methane and plug it into our food, energy and manufacturing processes. Take it from Dr. Jesse Zondervan, who put it in our Science Spotlight with him: “In essence, carbon is a resource. It's just about being able to cycle it.”

In short, our plan is for this and all future Arcs to put community back into science. To achieve this over the course of the Arc, each week our community-focused Growth Group will be sharing innovative research and exciting viewpoints on Carbon Capture and Utilization in the biotech space; starting with an article every Friday (you can read our previous one on how to restore the earth using mushrooms here). We will also be releasing long form videos every other Wednesday, including our hosted Science Spotlights. 

We will also be developing further initiatives with the help of collective community feedback - and you can participate as easily as by sharing your thoughts on social media with the hashtag #CarbonArc, by tagging us directly at @Valley_DAO, or by joining the Discord. 

By deploying a community of 1,500+ researchers, entrepreneurs, students and other experts into a single concentrated space, we aim to empower individuals like you to learn and make a real impact on our climate. As well as provide opportunities for you to meet like-minded individuals, and be part of a community where different perspectives and skills converge to innovate and create impactful solutions for climate challenges.

We’ll also be announcing a focused Carbon Capture and Utilization funding call for synthetic biology and industrial biotech researchers working within this domain soon. And as further part of our efforts, our product team will also continue to innovate in the same direction. If you’d like to join or help out these initiatives in any way, you can visit our website at https://valleydao.bio.