Prolific Machines
Illuminating biology’s limitless potential
We unlock unprecedented cellular control with light.
Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology using light. Our photomolecular biology platform leverages safe and effective tools — light, bioengineering, hardware, and AI — for dynamic control over virtually any cell function in any cell type.
From our favorite foods to lifesaving drugs, cells make our everyday necessities. Until now, biomanufacturing has been limited to indirect cell control via expensive, inefficient, and imprecise tools like chemicals. Our platform enables our partners to unlock direct control using light to produce new and superior biosolutions.
Light is an abundant, safe, and versatile way to control biology.
Temporal Control
Light can instantly turn “up” or “down” important cellular processes, allowing precise control over exactly when and for how long bioprocesses, like gene expression, receptor activation, and enzyme activity are active.
Tunable and multiplexable control
We can tune light intensity, color, and patterns to optimize cellular output and quality.
Spatial control
Light can precisely control individual cells, receptors, or genes without impacting surrounding cells or cellular processes.
Our platform can create complex tissue products such as steaks or organs by differentiating cells into specific cell types in a desired pattern.
We can precisely guide every major cellular process to unlock a world of possibility.
At the cell surface, we use light as a signal to control cell behaviors like proliferation.
Inside the cell, light can instantly turn “up” or “down” important cellular processes, like metabolism, by activating or deactivating any target protein.
In the nucleus, light can turn the expression of genes up, down, on, or off to precisely control protein production.
Unprecedented cellular control, when and where it matters most.
Applications
Our photomolecular platform allows you to control the exact level and duration of cellular action.
Don’t see your industry? Contact us to co-develop the future of biology.
Investors
Pre-seed
Led by Po Bronson
Seed
Led by Arvind Gupta
Series A
Led by Cooper Rinzler
Series B1
Led by Campbell Grieve
Also supported by
FAQs
Photomolecular biology is the use of light and AI to precisely control and optimize cellular behavior to more efficiently produce superior bioproduct solutions across wide-ranging applications, from food to pharmaceuticals.
Methods currently used to make bioproducts are limited to imprecise, inefficient, and expensive control levers, like temperature, chemicals, and proteins, to indirectly control cells. Prolific’s first-of-its-kind photomolecular platform brings together safe and effective tools — light, bioengineering, hardware, and AI — to unlock unparalleled, direct control and precision.
Living organisms have the ability to sense light because of light sensitive proteins (LSP). These naturally occurring proteins are found everywhere, from plants and bacteria to human retinas, and exist to detect and respond to light. They can do this very quickly to cause action in cells within seconds.
Proteins are at the heart of everything a cell does, from perceiving signals from other cells to switching genes on or off. By attaching LSPs to proteins that you want to control within the cell, Prolific makes it possible to precisely control subcellular biology using light. When met with light, which acts like a signal, these LSP can precisely control cells across key functions.
Prolific unlocks dynamic control by pulsating light in specific patterns, intensities, and wavelengths to activate cellular functions when and where it matters most, which is a gamechanger for biomanufacturing.
We’re co-developing the future of biology with innovators and leaders across cultivated meat, nutritional and therapeutic proteins, disease models, tissue engineering, cell and gene therapies, and beyond. Examples include proteins found in supplements and infant formula, antibodies to treat diseases, whole cuts of cultured meat, higher fidelity disease models, and other innovations never before possible.
Yes! Safety is a key benefit of our platform. Consistency is also a major advantage, which we refer to as reproducibility, which further increases the safety of our biotechnology methods. Light is an abundant, highly controllable, and predictable input that has played a role in cellular control in countless organisms since the dawn of time.
Our process uses light, which acts as a signal to control the light sensitive proteins (LSP) and direct cellular behavior. We procure these from a wide range of natural sources, including widely consumed plant foods like cabbage, mustard greens, and spirulina.
We use ‘non-ionizing’ light at relatively low intensities in our process, which means it doesn’t carry enough energy to harm living cells. It is safe for use in the production of both food and non-food products.