It was in 1912 that the French biologist Stéphane LEDUC laid a cornerstone and invented the term synthetic biology. In the wake of this, 105 years later, another French biologist, Franck MOLINA, invented programmable non-living bio-machines. This revolutionary new technology mimics and surpasses the functions of living organisms without involving living entities.
One can easily imagine the origin of this invention through the collaborations he had at the University of Cambridge or with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Center. In 1999, within the CNRS, he concretely initiated a research group focused on complex biological systems. After several years of fundamental research, the work matured to the point of being patented and deployed by a commercial company, SkillCell was born.
SkillCell is, above all, the alliance of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), a research organization with a workforce of over 30,000 people, and the ALCEN group, a mid-sized French industrial group developing unique technologies worldwide. The two co-founders, Franck MOLINA (CNRS) and Alexandra PRIEUX (ALCEN), bring together the combined strengths of scientific research and industrial vision to SkillCell. This complementarity allows an idea to become a concrete solution.
Since then, SkillCell has continued to grow by diversifying its expertise, always centered around its core mission: developing sustainable technologies that enable informed decision-making. At SkillCell, we work daily to provide tools that will revolutionize the field of human, animal, and even environmental health.
Just as Stéphane LEDUC brought synthetic biology to life in 1912, SkillCell has brought to life a revolutionary technology—programmable non-living bio-machines, which I will discuss in more detail in a future post.
Victor PETIT, Deputy-CEO @ SkillCell