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Inja Radman went from studying optogenetics in worms to cofounding and leading R&D at New Culture, a company that is commercializing new dairy proteins made through precision fermentation. In this episode, we talk about that career transition, her role as a CSO, and the technical journey of scaling up their product.
[0:00 - 1:24] Trailer
[2:13 - 6:12] – Academic background and early research journey
[6:51 - 10:08] – Climate obsession and the origin of New Culture
[10:57 - 14:21] – Leaving academia to co-found a company
[15:14 - 19:53] – Assessing economic feasibility at Indie Bio
[20:20 - 24:28] – Building the right technical team as CSO
[24:28 - 30:47] – From engineered strain to finished cheese product
[34:02 - 37:34] – Bioreactors and the real cost driver: downstream processing
[38:00 - 39:42] – Contract manufacturing vs. building in-house
[41:00 - 45:25] – Nutritional value and product positioning
[46:00 - end] – Advice for future bio founders
