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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.
 | |
| Industry | Biotechnology |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 2015 |
| Founders | Mathew Markus and George Bonaci |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Bioengineered wildlife products (Synthetic rhino horn) |
| Website | pembient |
History
editPembient 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 (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]
In August 2017 Pembient launched its initial coin offering of PembiCoin which is a blockchain-based token that allows its holder to take delivery of one gram of biofabricated horn in the year 2022. As of 2018, the company was continuing their plan to flood the market with synthetic rhino horn to help end poaching.
Mission
editThe 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] One of their current projects is the creation of a synthetic rhino horn using techniques that replicate rhino DNA.[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
edit- ^ "Baby Rhinos are Being Poached Can 3D-Printers Save Them". Takepart.com. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ Vaughan, Adam (22 January 2015). "Record Number Rhinos Killed South Africa 2014". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ "Western black rhino declared extinct". CNN. Archived from the original on 2011-12-13. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ "Pembient, Purveyor of Bioengineered Rhino Horn, is Admitted to IndieBio Accelerator" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ^ "3R Printed Rhino Horns". 26 February 2015. 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.