# What Science can Learn from Startups | Adam Marblestone on Focused Research Organizations

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/632nm-6933948/what-science-can-learn-from-startups-adam-marblestone-on-focused-research-organizations
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/632nm-6933948/what-science-can-learn-from-startups-adam-marblestone-on-focused-research-organizations.md
Podcast: [632nm](https://stenobird.com/podcast/632nm-6933948)
Published: 2025-10-07T15:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/32d7c771
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/32d7c771/76e504a8.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/632nm-6933948/episodes/what-science-can-learn-from-startups-adam-marblestone-on-focused-research-organizations
Duration seconds: 6082

## Resource

Science has stalled. And Adam Marblestone thinks he knows why. Check out the Research Gap Map here: https://www.gap-map.org/?sort=rank In this episode, we sit down with Adam Marblestone, neuroscientist, nanotechnologist, and founder of Convergent Research, to explore how new “Focused Research Organizations” (FROs) could reignite scientific progress. From DNA “ticker-tape” neural recording to optical connectomics and Neuralink, Marblestone explains how emerging neurotechnologies reveal both the brilliance and the bottlenecks of today’s research system. We discuss why traditional funding often fails to support ambitious, interdisciplinary projects, how FROs borrow the focus and speed of startups to build scientific infrastructure, and why projects like OpenAI, E11 Bio, and ultrasound-on-a-chip exemplify this new model. Marblestone breaks down his “Gap Map” of unsolved scientific challenges - from room-temperature superconductors to artificial ribosomes - and does the math on how tens of billions of dollars could close them. Whether you’re fascinated by neuroscience, scientific innovation, or the future of research itself, this conversation offers a rare insider’s look at how new institutions could rebuild the engine of discovery—and why the next wave of breakthroughs might depend more on organization than on ideas. Follow us for more technical interviews with the world’s greatest scientists: Twitter: https://x.com/632nmPodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/632nmpodcast?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw== LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/632nm/about/ Substack: https://632nmpodcast.substack.com/ Follow our hosts! Michael Dubrovsky: https://x.com/MikeDubrovsky Misha Shalaginov: https://x.com/MYShalaginov Xinghui Yin: https://x.com…

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