Recent research by the industry group SynBioBeta indicated that, so far in 2015,
synthetic biology companies raised half a billion dollars — more than the total investments in 2013 and 2014 combined.
Startup Sapphire Energy, which uses
synthetic biology to make a green crude out of algae, announced on Monday that it's
raising $ 144 million in a Series C round from investors including agriculture
company Monsanto.