{"podcast":{"title":"Galaxy Balance","slug":"galaxy-balance-7619530","podcast_index_feed_id":7619530,"rss_url":"https://api.riverside.fm/hosting/TsNBRv3G.rss","website_url":"https://www.youtube.com/@GalaxyBalance","image_url":"https://hosting-media.riverside.com/media/podcasts/c0a4b47b-b2c9-4c68-88b5-1baa3a352c83/logos/0081482a-5241-4cdc-aa4f-c89d3aca95e7.png","author":"Cory Smith","episode_count":28,"summary":"Galaxy Balance explores the frontier where biology, technology and consciousness meet. Each episode brings together pioneers shaping our collective future, from genome engineers and AI builders to longevity researchers, space explorers, and mindfulness practitioners. Hosted by Cory Smith, the conversations dive deep into how these seemingly distant fields form an interconnected ecosystem, one that balance innovation with introspection, science with spirit, and ambition with awareness. At its core, Galaxy Balance is about integration; the idea that our greatest leaps forward happen when disciplines collide. The same algorithms that decode galaxies can help us understand genomes; the same principles that govern consciousness can illuminate AI. Through long-form, unscripted dialogue, the show invites listeners to zoom out from the silos of specialization and see the larger pattern: a living system of intelligence evolving across scales – molecular, planetary, and cosmic.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-24T00:19:02.360701+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530"},"episode":{"title":"Aditya Kunjapur: Bringing New Chemistry to Life","slug":"aditya-kunjapur-bringing-new-chemistry-to-life","published_at":"2026-07-13T20:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530/aditya-kunjapur-bringing-new-chemistry-to-life","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530","url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/02fd8b2c3d3b579fe7a47c37a8dd6b2f842d856508e17ade13874148d937e619/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI1MzE0NDFiNy0wMjY1LTQzODQtYmQwZi04MjFiYmFmNjRkZWEiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJjMGE0YjQ3Yi1iMmM5LTRjNjgtODhiNS0xYmFhM2EzNTJjODMiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTBiYjRiMzM2NjY3MWFlZGQwZTZhMTEiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmE0YTdlNDQ3ZjRiMDdhYTE0OGQ4ZGFmL2Nvcnktc21pdGhzLXN0dWRpby1sTktuWC1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTctNV9fMTctNTQtNDQubXAzIn0=.mp3","audio_url":"https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/02fd8b2c3d3b579fe7a47c37a8dd6b2f842d856508e17ade13874148d937e619/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiI1MzE0NDFiNy0wMjY1LTQzODQtYmQwZi04MjFiYmFmNjRkZWEiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiJjMGE0YjQ3Yi1iMmM5LTRjNjgtODhiNS0xYmFhM2EzNTJjODMiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTBiYjRiMzM2NjY3MWFlZGQwZTZhMTEiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmE0YTdlNDQ3ZjRiMDdhYTE0OGQ4ZGFmL2Nvcnktc21pdGhzLXN0dWRpby1sTktuWC1jb21wb3Nlci0yMDI2LTctNV9fMTctNTQtNDQubXAzIn0=.mp3","summary":"What does it take to bring new chemistry to life? In this episode of Galaxy Balance, Cory Smith speaks with Aditya Kunjapur, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware, about genetic code expansion, non-standard amino acids, engineered microbes, and the future of synthetic biology. Aditya’s lab explores how biology can be programmed to biosynthesize chemical groups that are rare or absent in nature, install those new building blocks into proteins, and make microbial survival depend on synthetic chemistry. The conversation moves from his early path through energy and chemical engineering, to his time in George Church’s lab, to the founding of Nitro Biosciences and the use of expanded genetic codes for next generation vaccine platforms. They discuss how non-standard amino acids can act as chemical flags for the immune system, how live microbes could produce antigens inside the body, and why genetic code expansion may open new approaches to vaccines, biocontainment, agriculture, environmental engineering, and planetary protection. The episode also explores synthetic auxotrophy, engineered microbial dependence, plant controlled microbial survival, plastic degradation, agricultural probiotics, bioenergy, AI tools for non-standard amino acids, and the science fiction lessons behind containment, from Jurassic Park to modern AI. This is a conversation about rewriting the language of life, not only to understand biology, but to give it new chemistry, new safeguards, and new possibilities. Timestamps: 00:00 - Engineering microbes for space: Bacillus subtilis and biological containment 02:28 - Aditya’s pathway into synthetic biology and innovative chemistry 05:46 - Transitioning from industry internships to academia and entrepreneur…","meta_description":"What does it take to bring new chemistry to life? In this episode of Galaxy Balance, Cory Smith speaks with Aditya Kunjapur, Associate Professor of Chemic…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3823,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/galaxy-balance-7619530/episodes/aditya-kunjapur-bringing-new-chemistry-to-life/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/galaxy-balance-7619530/aditya-kunjapur-bringing-new-chemistry-to-life.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}