About me
Mark Heinnickel is a Principal Scientist leading Lumen Bioscience’s Bioproduction team. Mark has over 20 years’ experience in academia and industry studying the proteins and pathways essential for photosynthesis. He previously worked at Matrix Genetics and ExxonMobil, where he used this expertise to improve growth and biofuel production in eukaryotic algae and cyanobacteria. Currently, Mark leads Lumen’s efforts to optimize the production of therapeutic proteins in Arthrospira platensis (spirulina). By combining photosynthetic characterization, design of experiments methodology, and machine learning, Lumen has increased the productivity of valuable therapeutic strains 2-10-fold. These improvements, along with growth enhancements and other cost reductions, make protein therapeutics viable for previously unfeasible applications. One example is feeding spirulina to cattle to reduce methane emissions, which shows the platform’s power and adaptability. Mark’s ultimate goal is to help make these therapeutics affordable and accessible worldwide.
