They sent the strain, the sequencing runs, and every failed attempt that came before it. That last part is rare.
Yusuf Adeyemi
Lead microbiologist // Bioforge
Four billion years under glass
Vitro // Microbiology Research Centre // Est. 2031
A living collection, read and re-read daily. We publish what the cultures do, including the runs that came to nothing.
View our researchManifesto
Small organisms. Big questions.
Microbes carry four billion years of evolution in a single cell: how to bind, break down, defend, survive. Vitro cultures them, sequences them, and studies what they do. Machine models are our microscope: they help us see patterns we would otherwise miss.
In consortium with
- HELIXWORKS
- genomik ®
- Bioforge
- Petri&Co
- Strains cultured
- 12,000
- Sequences indexed
- 4.8M
- Years of evolution
- 4B
First result
We asked how life holds on.
Query: adhesion. The model pointed to VX-09, a strain that grips smooth surfaces within seconds of contact. Above, a live culture takes hold of the glass.
Selected work
What we have been looking at
Some of it ran for a week, some for four years. The ones that went nowhere are in the archive too.
- Deep vent survey Field study // 2029
- Antarctic core cultures Sampling // 2030
- Gut flora atlas Sequencing // 2028
- Soil respiration maps Long study // 2031
- Phage library Archive // 2030
- Biofilm adhesion VX-09 // 2031
- Reef symbionts Field study // 2029
- Airborne spore counts Monitoring // 2030
- Meltwater isolates Field study // 2031
- Slow growth trials Culture // 2027
Testimonials
Notes from collaborators
Partner labs, funders and the people who read our data before anyone else does. We asked them to be plain about it.
We asked for a contamination review and got a two week study of our own water supply. Nothing was oversold.
Petra Lindqvist
Facilities director // Petri&Co
Their models flag patterns we would have filed as noise. The lab still checks every one of them by hand.
Renu Iyer
Computational biology // Helixworks
Four months of culture data, delivered raw, with the gaps marked. It made our own paper an honest one.
Tomas Brandt
Research fellow // Nordvik Institute
No press release, no promises. Just monthly notes on what grew, what did not, and what they tried next.
Aiko Tanaka
Programme officer // genomik
They cultured a strain nobody else would take on, and told us plainly the week it stopped responding.
Samir Haddad
Head of research // Vantis Bio
Careers
Join our team of experts
We are hiring across culture, sequencing and imaging. Most of the work is slow, and most of it is worth doing.
See open roles-
Marte Solheim
Culture lead
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Idris Bello
Sequencing
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Hana Kowalski
Media prep
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Ruben Ferreira
Imaging
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Noor Haddad
Bioinformatics
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Kaito Mori
Field sampling
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Elin Vasquez
Lab manager
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Tobias Lund
Mycology
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Priya Raman
Data engineering
