I’m coming home to synthetic biology with a renewed commitment to sustainability.

After an incredibly rewarding career developing scientific solutions for healthcare, an eye-opening role at my first synthetic biology company about five years ago paved the way for a new direction. It was inspiring to see our customers apply the power of biology to issues beyond healthcare, and I loved learning an entirely new segment of the life science field. I even had the opportunity to testify before the U.S. Senate about the vital role of synthetic biology for our country and the global bioeconomy.

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Since then, I have kept a close eye on the synthetic biology field. Now, I am truly excited about the chance to return to it as the new chief executive officer at Ansa Biotechnologies.

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If you aren’t familiar with this young company, it was founded by a team of scientists led by Dan Lin-Arlow and Sebastian Palluk out of Jay Keasling’s lab at the University of California, Berkeley. It is based on a revolutionary technology that makes it possible to synthesize DNA more accurately and efficiently than any other method. Ansa’s synthesis platform easily handles the complex DNA sequences that other vendors can’t touch. With that as our foundation, we will enable applications that are impractical or even impossible with legacy synthesis tools.

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When I explored the opportunity here, joining the Ansa team quickly became a no-brainer. First, I was blown away by the amazing quality of the people at the company and their commitment to taking this platform and turning it into a business. This team is primed for success! Second, I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know the synthesis market, and Ansa has the best DNA synthesis technology out there. The best solution is going to win and I wanted to be part of Ansa when that happens. Finally, it was clear that this company had reached an inflection point. The Ansa team has moved mountains since the company was founded six years ago, starting from the first concept and turning that into a business employing 80 people with a technology that works elegantly and reliably, as our early access users working in cell and gene therapies, agbio, and other applications can attest. The next mountain to move is one that I know well: scaling a business into a real commercial operation. It’s a terrific opportunity and one that I couldn’t pass up. I’m particularly pleased that Dan, the company’s founding CEO and a brilliant scientist, will remain with Ansa in his new role as chief scientific officer.

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Joining Ansa also allows me to pursue my deep interest in driving progress for sustainability. We are stewards of our planet, and we have an obligation to protect our environment. It’s no secret that humans are by nature destructive; we must counter that by taking every reasonable measure to protect our world. Some big ideas are out there to help address the sustainability crisis that can’t move forward because the scientific toolkit isn’t there to make it happen. We urgently need to overcome these challenges, and one of the biggest is providing rapid access to long stretches of DNA so scientists can accelerate their sustainability research. If my North Star is having the biggest positive impact I can in this world, then Ansa is the path I take to get there. This company is uniquely positioned to enable progress in sustainability, healthcare, and other areas where real change is needed to realize better outcomes.

I’m excited about returning to the Bay Area after spending the last few years in Germany. The Bay Area is special in my heart; it’s where my daughter was born. It’s exactly the diverse and interesting area that you’d want to live and raise a family.

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If your work calls for synthetic DNA — especially the gnarly or complex sequences that send other vendors running for the hills — I hope you’ll check out Ansa’s early access program. We’ve served dozens of customers so far, and we’re just getting started. Reach out to me if you want to learn more about how we will introduce this powerful platform to the world.