Biology is shifting from something scientists observe to something engineers can design. The convergence of computing and life sciences is creating a new field often referred to as digital biology. NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang recently described it as the next major technological revolution. In Israel, one of the teams preparing the ground for this shift is MNDL Bio, co-founded by Eran Miller.
MNDL Bio does not create biological products. Instead, it builds tools that make biomanufacturing faster, cheaper and scalable. Understanding what that means requires a look at how biology is already being used to manufacture medicines, food and materials.
Why the Company Is Named “MNDL”
Gregor MNDL, the monk who first decoded heredity through pea plant experiments more than a century ago, is considered the father of genetics. His work laid the foundation for the biological sciences that followed. Naming the company after him reflects the connection between those early discoveries and today’s ability to write and optimize DNA with intention.
What Biomanufacturing Actually Is
Biomanufacturing means producing molecules, materials, food ingredients or medicines using living organisms such as engineered bacteria, yeast or plants. Instead of traditional chemical factories, biology becomes the production system.
MNDL Bio’s role is not to manufacture these products but to remove one of the biggest bottlenecks in the industry. To make biomanufacturing cost effective, companies must engineer DNA efficiently. That part of the process is still slow and expensive. MNDL Bio focuses on improving the core technologies that determine how well engineered organisms perform.
Biomanufacturing Already Shapes Daily Life
People often imagine biomanufacturing as futuristic. Yet one of its most important achievements has been part of modern medicine for decades: insulin.
For many years, insulin has been produced by inserting human DNA sequences into yeast or bacteria. These organisms grow in tanks that resemble breweries more than factories. After they multiply, the insulin they produce is filtered and purified for medical use.
The same approach now powers a wide variety of products including therapeutics, vaccines, milk proteins, meat and egg proteins for food, enzymes used in detergents and specialized materials such as spider silk. Synthetic biology is gradually moving beyond pharma and into consumer products, food systems and sustainability focused industries.
A Shift Toward Scalable Biological Production
For the first twenty years of synthetic biology, costs limited its use to pharma. Producing molecules in living cells was possible but extremely costly. This prevented broader applications such as food, clothing materials or large scale industrial ingredients.
According to Eran, this is now changing. Innovations in the past five years have lowered costs significantly and opened the door to new commercial possibilities. He describes a world where almost anything around us could eventually be produced through engineered biological systems.
This approach replaces large polluting factories with small controlled environments where organisms produce compounds cleanly and efficiently. For many industries, it represents a shift toward sustainability and affordability at the same time.
Ethical and Safety Challenges
Just as artificial intelligence has introduced new safety concerns, digital biology raises questions about regulation, misuse and global competition. There are rumors of countries experimenting with genetic modification in ways that would not be allowed under most regulatory frameworks.
To address these risks, Eran believes the field will need systems similar to antivirus tools in computing. DNA sequences can already be analyzed computationally. If a sequence is linked to a dangerous protein or a prohibited biological function, it can be flagged and blocked from being synthesized. Safety will need to be integrated into the digital layer long before anything becomes physical.
How MNDL Bio Began
Eran originally came from hardware engineering. His transition into biology happened when he and his co-founder met Professor Tuller from Tel Aviv University who spent more than a decade optimizing gene expression for biomanufacturing companies.
He had solved the same problems repeatedly for many teams. The question then became how to turn that expertise into a platform that supports thousands of companies rather than dozens. That insight led to MNDL Bio. The company focuses on the fundamental step of engineering DNA in a smarter and more predictable way, which helps unlock the entire downstream process of biological manufacturing.
Why This Future Is Not Something to Fear
Many people react instinctively when they hear terms like engineered organisms. Eran argues that humans have been shaping biology for thousands of years. Tomatoes, bananas and apples look nothing like their ancient versions. We have always selected and modified nature to improve food and materials.
Modern synthetic biology simply provides precision rather than trial and error. It also reduces environmental impact by replacing chemical factories with controlled biological systems. When understood within that context, it becomes less about fear and more about progress.
A Transformation on the Horizon
Eran describes the future of biomanufacturing with genuine excitement. Costs are falling, tools are improving and biology is becoming programmable in ways that were previously unimaginable. The combination of synthetic biology and AI is shifting the field from experimentation to engineering.
The next generation of everyday products, from food to materials to medicine, may emerge from living cells rather than industrial plants. If MNDL Bio succeeds, the process will be faster, cleaner and far more affordable.
A biological revolution is unfolding, and companies like MNDL Bio are helping shape its foundation.
