The Big Experiment
Ever wondered how technology start-ups, well, start-up? For most founder entrepreneurs, it is the biggest experiment they'll ever run. Like most experiments, the result isn't known beforehand and it often doesn't work first time. On a bigger scale, how do big tech companies turn innovative science into profit?
Mark Davison interviews founder scientists, executives, investors, communicators, and others in the technology start-up and corporate science ecosystems.
Learn how great ideas turned into thriving businesses (or not) from those who made it happen (or didn't). Get business tips, lessons learned, and life lessons straight from the people who know.
Inspiring, disastrous, funny: hear what life in a science-driven company is really like.
Straight-talking, no nonsense, but conversational style. All technical content is explained for the non-specialist - you don't need a PhD or fluency in jargon and technobabble.
The Big Experiment
From Jellyfish to Wound Healing with Dr Andrew Mearns-Spragg
What if the solution to chronic wound healing has been floating in our oceans for 600 million years?
Jellyfish collagen isn't just different from the cow and pig-derived materials used in medicine today. It's actually better at healing human tissue.
I sit down with Dr Andrew Mearns-Spragg, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Jellagen, who's proving this remarkable claim with hard data. His research shows jellyfish collagen outperforms traditional materials in vocal fold repair, triggers faster transitions from inflammation to healing, and creates longer-lasting tissue structure. The secret lies in what Andrew calls "collagen type zero," an evolutionarily ancient form that our bodies recognise differently, prompting superior healing responses without the prolonged inflammatory reactions seen with mammalian sources.
Beyond the compelling science, Andrew reveals how he built the world's first ISO-certified medical device manufacturing plant for jellyfish collagen from scratch. We explore the practical realities of sustainable harvesting (achieving near-zero bycatch), navigating FDA regulations for an entirely novel biomaterial, and convincing investors to back marine biotechnology.
This venture extends beyond the laboratory. By harvesting jellyfish blooms caused by overfishing, Jellagen addresses an ecological problem while creating advanced wound care solutions and providing alternative income for local fishing communities struggling with depleted fish stocks.
"The jellyfish collagen transition to healing was much quicker and longer lasting." - Dr Andrew Mearns-Spragg
You'll Hear About
- Why jellyfish collagen outperforms mammalian collagen in tissue healing
- The challenges of building ISO-certified jellyfish manufacturing
- How ancient collagen triggers better immune responses
- Sustainable harvesting methods with near-zero bycatch
- Translating marine biology research into medical devices
- The cost of chronic wound management in healthcare
- Navigating the FDA regulatory pathway for novel biomaterials
- Supporting local fishing communities through jellyfish harvesting
- From angel investment to medical device commercialization
- Platform opportunities beyond wound healing applications
Connect with Dr Andrew Mearns-Spragg
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-m-006bb41/
Website - https://jellagen.co.uk/
Connect with me:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdavison100/
If you need any lab equipment:
Grant Instruments: https://www.grantinstruments.com/
Grant Instruments on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grant-instruments-cambridge-ltd/
