The Life & Science Podcast

In this episode of The Life & Science Podcast, we talk with Malte Kuhnemund about why spatial biology is flat, and whether it should be.Malte came to Sweden on an Erasmus exchange in Lund and stayed for his PhD in Uppsala. The in situ technology from his lab became CARTANA, which he co-founded and 10x Genomics acquired, and it fed into the Xenium platform. After 10x closed the Stockholm site, he helped start CubaseBio and Haga Bio.We discuss:What pulled him to Sweden, from family summers to open professors' doorsBuilding CARTANA when spatial RNA imaging was still "science fiction"Why 10x Genomics, and what signing the papers felt likeThe Stockholm closure: anger first, then hindsightA break with his kids, then starting CubaseBio and Haga BioWhy spatial tools have been flat all along, and how sequencing rebuilds tissue in 3DThe experiment showing molecular crowding is no limit for in situSacrifice, founder pressure and advice: "Nothing's safe today"If you are a scientist thinking about turning research into a company, a founder rebuilding after a reorganisation, a researcher curious about spatial biology in 3D, or a PhD or postdoc weighing academia against industry, you'll recognise yourself in this conversation. Chapters0:00 Meet Malte Kuhnemund1:51 Erasmus in Lund, then a PhD in Uppsala5:24 A mobile phone microscope and the road to CARTANA7:47 Reagent kits and spatial biology taking off8:33 Owning your IP in the Swedish system9:52 Founder, coffee maker and team cheerleader11:15 Early investors and a market that did not exist14:19 Why 10x Genomics was the right partner15:17 An acquisition from the start16:24 Signing the papers and letting go18:17 What the CARTANA team brought to the Xenium platform20:01 Starting again21:15 When 10x closed the Stockholm site24:25 Why most of the team stayed in Europe28:26 Time with his kids and a fresh perspective31:45 Founding CubaseBio and Haga Bio in 202432:18 Two companies with opposite aims34:45 Haga Bio: taking spatial biomarkers to the clinic36:40 Why spatial biology has been flat39:14 "We should have done this in three dimensions"41:12 Sequencing DNA to see tissue in 3D42:46 "A billion piece jigsaw puzzle"45:17 Cells, proteins and the latest preprint46:29 Computing 3D samples on a workstation47:22 Organoids and personalised medicine53:26 Whole transcriptome versus targeted 3D readouts58:09 Proteins, chromatin and the sequencing cost limit59:01 Adding time: is 4D next?1:01:33 Milestones for CubaseBio and Haga Bio1:04:58 Spatial RNA pathology and a first diagnostic1:06:50 What changed his mind about in situ1:13:21 "We're still at the start of spatial biology"1:22:43 Dutch Courage: sacrifice, balance and delegation1:25:19 Carrying the pressure of a founder1:27:02 Being wrong about an R&D decision1:29:51 Regrets and fears: AI and tool funding1:32:44 Advice for PhDs, postdocs and founders1:36:11 "You will find people that can help you" Where should spatial biology go next: low-cost assays for the clinic, full 3D for discovery, or both?Tell us in the comments, and follow The Life & Science Podcast for the next episode. #SpatialBiology #SpatialTranscriptomics #BiotechFounders #Organoids #LifeSciences #SRC-Searchhttps://src-search.com/

In episode 2 of The Life & Science Podcast, we sit down with Joe Beechem for a celebration of four decades in science: why he left a tenured academic career to “build a box that people around the world can use”, and what it took to bring spatial biology to the world.Joe’s path runs from a commuter school to Johns Hopkins, a physics postdoc, and a tenured chair in a medical school. From there he went to Molecular Probes, Life Technologies and NanoString, where he led R&D through the launch of GeoMx and CosMx. He lived through a very public patent fight, a Chapter 11 and the sale to Bruker. And he’s still not done: his next project is spatial proteomics.We discuss:The Friday-night phone call that made him leave academia, and why he has no regretsHow a cold call to Johns Hopkins got him into grad schoolThe masking-tape and pipette experiment that became GeoMx, and the pathologist survey that nearly killed itLiving through litigation and bankruptcyThe two paths to the clinic: discovery-first biomarkers and foundation modelsWhy big companies lose their innovation engine, and his next move in spatial proteomicsThe Socratic play he’s writing for non-scientists, with Darwin, Rosalind Franklin and Carl SaganIf you build or buy spatial tools, run a lab, or wonder what a long career in this field looks like from the inside, this one is for you.Chapters0:00 Meet Joe Beechum0:35 20,000 miles in one tour1:32 Mr. NanoString, Mr. Spatial4:16 The idea behind high-plex microscopy6:30 A tenured professor who couldn't stop building8:35 The call that led to leaving Vanderbilt11:15 No regrets: Vanderbilt and tenure13:26 Cold-calling Johns Hopkins16:30 First from northern Kentucky in an Ivy League grad school18:49 From biology to physics23:28 Walking into med school25:33 Molecular Probes and the Alexa Fluor dyes27:55 The Invitrogen acquisition30:17 Life Technologies: AGBT plenary, Starlight, Ion Torrent32:29 Leaving Life Tech and joining NanoString34:54 A lunch at JP Morgan, a $50M investment37:22 The engineer who said "it could work": birth of GeoMx42:06 "Think big, act small"47:18 "No one will want this": the board says no to GeoMx49:33 Proving it works: the 84-gene assay51:51 CosMx: imaging thousands of transcripts56:38 Best Buzz at AGBT, again and again57:21 Lawsuits and the road to Chapter 1158:12 Holding the lab together through Chapter 111:01:06 "We're not going anywhere"1:03:32 Bidding war1:04:34 The payoff: saving the microscopes1:06:22 Did he maximize his impact?1:09:00 Socrates in a black box theater: Joe's play1:15:03 Anti-science world1:18:33 The next chapter: proteins1:20:17 Spatial in the clinic: two paths1:27:30 Is 3D the next frontier?1:30:08 RNA or protein? Dinner with Carl Sagan?1:33:45 Would he do it all again?1:35:45 The one regret1:38:06 What he's afraid of1:39:25 Final advice: look inside, look outsideDoes the path to the clinic run through discovery-first biomarkers, foundation models, or both? Tell us in the comments, and follow The Life & Science Podcast for the next episode.#SpatialBiology #SpatialOmics #Genomics #Proteomics #LifeSciences#SRC-Searchsrc-search.com

In the first episode of The Life & Science Podcast, we talk with Luciano Martelotto about benchmarking with honesty: how we compare spatial technologies, why the current approach falls short, and what it will take to get these tools in front of patients.Luciano's career has crossed continents and disciplines. He trained in biotechnology in Rosario, Argentina, at a time when he sometimes had to buy his own Taq polymerase out of his teaching salary to finish his experiments. He moved from plant genetics into cancer biology, built labs and methods in Australia and the US, and became one of the most-cited and most candid voices in single-cell and spatial -omics. More recently, he moved from academia into industry, a step he describes not as leaving science but as "changing how I play the game."We discuss:What changes when a KOL moves into industry, and why "nobody cares how many papers you have if the things don't actually work"Why benchmarking in -omics remains so difficultA different way to compare platforms: what if we started looking at how much biology you can get for a fixed budget?Why single-cell has still not reached the clinic, let alone spatial, and his view that "if it breaks in the hands of a non-expert, it is not ready"How funding priorities favour new discoveries over the less visible work of making tools reliable and usableThe personal cost of an international research careerWhat he regrets in his scientific careerIf you run a lab, lead a core facility, build or sell life science tools, or you're a researcher weighing the jump to industry, you'll recognise yourself in this conversation. You may not agree with all of it.Chapters00:00 Introduction03:13 Doing science in Argentina with no budget09:35 The DNA moment and the cancer book he read five times14:19 Academia to industry15:44 "Nobody cares how many papers you have"23:36 The price of being honest25:34 Benchmarking is a swamp33:31 How much biology does $10K buy?37:04 Young researchers: your tools will be outdated before you graduate44:12 Why single-cell still isn't in the clinic49:39 Flashy science vs usable technology54:02 Dutch Courage: was it worth it?1:01:12 The statement he'd take back1:04:44 Lightning round1:13:31 "This is not a race"Is benchmarking in our field broken, or just hard? Tell us in the comments, and follow The Life & Science Podcast for the next episode.#SingleCell #SpatialOmics #Genomics #Benchmarking #LifeSciences#SRC-Searchsrc-search.com

Welcome to The Life & Science Podcast, powered by SRC-Search.This is the show where we talk with the people shaping life sciences, from researchers and founders to executives and the talent behind them. Each episode covers careers, leadership, innovation and what it really takes to build a career in science and biotech.Hosted by Bert Trentelman, Founder of SRC-Search.New episodes coming soon. Follow or subscribe so you don't miss the first one!