Cell-free synthesis for the clinic: How Invitris is building a phage printer episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 30, 2026 · 53 MIN

Cell-free synthesis for the clinic: How Invitris is building a phage printer

from Podovirus · host Jessica Sacher and Joseph Campbell

What if you could build biology in a tube, no cells required? Invitris is a Munich-based cell-free synthesis company starting with bacteriophages. Kilian Vogele, co-founder of Invitris, joins Jessica and Joe to explain how cell-free phage production works — and why they're building toward a "phage printer" that could sit in a hospital.Topics covered:• How cell-free phage production actually works• Why removing bacteria removes a lot of contamination problems• Phages as Lego sets — mix-and-match engineering• Building a phage printer for hospitals• Where AI-generated phages fit (and don't)• What it takes to get cell-free phages into a clinical trialKilian Vogele is the co-founder of Invitris, a Munich-based cell-free synthesis company currently focused on bacteriophage production. Trained as a physicist at TU Munich, he co-founded Invitris out of a 2018 iGEM project and has been building toward decentralized, on-demand cell-free manufacturing — starting with phages.

What if you could build biology in a tube, no cells required? Invitris is a Munich-based cell-free synthesis company starting with bacteriophages. Kilian Vogele, co-founder of Invitris, joins Jessica and Joe to explain how cell-free phage production works — and why they're building toward a "phage printer" that could sit in a hospital.Topics covered:• How cell-free phage production actually works• Why removing bacteria removes a lot of contamination problems• Phages as Lego sets — mix-and-match engineering• Building a phage printer for hospitals• Where AI-generated phages fit (and don't)• What it takes to get cell-free phages into a clinical trialKilian Vogele is the co-founder of Invitris, a Munich-based cell-free synthesis company currently focused on bacteriophage production. Trained as a physicist at TU Munich, he co-founded Invitris out of a 2018 iGEM project and has been building toward decentralized, on-demand cell-free manufacturing — starting with phages.

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Cell-free synthesis for the clinic: How Invitris is building a phage printer

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What if you could build biology in a tube, no cells required? Invitris is a Munich-based cell-free synthesis company starting with bacteriophages. Kilian Vogele, co-founder of Invitris, joins Jessica and Joe to explain how cell-free phage production...

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