Pembient
 | |
| Industry | Biotechnology |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 2015 |
| Founders | Mathew Markus and George Bonaci |
| Headquarters | Seattle, WA, USA |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Bioengineered wildlife products |
| Website |
pembient |
Pembient is a biotech company in Seattle, Washington, United States that was founded with the goal of creating bioengineered wildlife products to fight poaching around the world.
History
Pembient was founded in January 2015. Mathew Markus and George Bonaci discussed the possibility of reverse engineering and bioengineering wildlife products specifically rhino horn.[1] Markus first thought of reverse engineering rhino horn 10 years ago when he read of the severity of the black market poaching industry, 1,200 rhinos were killed in South Africa in 2014,[2] and the western black rhinos were declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN).[3] January 2015, it was announced that Pembient had been admitted to the inaugural class of Indiebio in San Francisco, a three month business accelerator program awarding $50,000 and mentoring to biotech start-ups using synthetic biology.[4]
Mission
The goal of the company is to bioengineer rhino horn and elephant ivory tusks replacement products below the black market price in order to stop the threat to endangered species.[5][6] They have created their first prototype that is a rhino powder that looks, feels, tastes, and when tested is identical to rhino horn.[7] Bonaci has stated that even though they are focused on one biochemical product, "Maybe in the future we'll do tissue engineering [or] whatever works for the market." [8]
References
- ↑ "Baby Rhinos are Being Poached Can 3D-Printers Save Them". Takepart.com. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ "Record Number Rhinos Killed South Africa 2014". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ "Western black rhino declared extinct". CNN. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ "Pembient, Purveyor of Bioengineered Rhino Horn, is Admitted to IndieBio Accelerator". PR Newswire. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ "3R Printed Rhino Horns". Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ "IndieBio Will Accelerate Synthetic Biology To Tech Startup Speed". Forbes. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ "This startup wants to bioengineer faux rhino horn, end illegal poaching trade". Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ "Egg Whites, Rhino Horns, And Stem Cells: IndieBio's Plan To Bioengineer A Better World". Fast Company. Retrieved 13 May 2015.