Intrexon Establishes "Living Arts" Company, BioPop, to Create Consumer Products Inspired by Nature and Made Possible through Science

GERMANTOWN, Md. and CARLSBAD, Calif., Oct. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON), a leader in synthetic biology, announced today the formation of a new "Living Arts" subsidiary called Biological & Popular Culture, Inc. (BioPop).

BioPop's team of innovative scientists and creative designers, enabled by the synthetic biology engineering technology of Intrexon, aims to create new bio-diverse products like those found in nature. The company plans to utilize the promise of synthetic biology in the field of fine and decorative arts, accessories, toys and unique novelties.  The embedded concept is "living art."

To accelerate development of new concepts Intrexon acquired a controlling equity stake in Yonder Biology, now renamed BioPop, although its principals remain significant equity owners.  Yonder's co-founder, Andy Bass, has been named BioPop's Chief Executive Officer.

"BioPop will use living organisms as bio-palettes that live, grow and respond to stimuli," Bass said.  "Imagine an art piece that 'paints' itself; a living, renewable ambient light source that operates on sunlight, water and nutrients, instead of batteries or electricity. We'll use the same technology to create toys that inspire children through novel uses of nature – combining innovation, entertainment and imagination."

"BioPop aims to evolve the traditional biotechnology industry paradigm that focuses on healthcare and therapeutics.  We are transforming biotechnology to exist in people's everyday lives.  The consumer market is large with diverse interests that will play a vibrant role in biotech's future," Bass concluded.

Andy and his team were the creators of Dino Pet^™, the world's first living, bioluminescent pet made from nature and produced a digital art piece entitled, "A Complete Genome in Time," now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The critically-acclaimed DNA art displays an entire human genome in the dimension of time, streaming 100 nucleotides per second (A's, C's, G's and T's).  It will take one-year to display all 3.2 billion nucleotides within the human genome, yet all of this data fits inside a human cell.

BioPop's latest innovative concept is "LIVA," a living art bio-painting that grows into a full portrait.  See rendering depicted below:

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131002/NY90534 )

Randal J. Kirk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intrexon, said, "While Intrexon continues its work to provide solutions to important problems in Health, Food, Energy and Environment, we created, in partnership with Andy Bass and his team, a separate company to focus on groundbreaking consumer products rooted in synthetic biology.  Initial applications will focus on decorative and fine arts – even toys, both of which represent virtually unlimited potential.  Through this start up venture we will relish the opportunity to innovate, collaborate and imagine in order to engage directly with consumers.  We expect to learn much from them as we do so."

Kirk continued, "I have known Andy Bass and Dean Sauer of Yonder for a few years and had become a big fan of their efforts to popularize the intersection of biological science and art.  "Biological & Popular Culture" has been a favorite meme of mine for fifteen years, and at this time the stars aligned to permit us to combine visionary young entrepreneurs with Intrexon's technology.  The entity will be a vehicle to generate new categories of consumer products."

About Intrexon Corporation
Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON) is a leader in synthetic biology focused on collaborating with companies in Health, Food, Energy and the Environment to create biologically-based products that improve the quality of life and the health of the planet.  Through the company's proprietary UltraVector^® platform, Intrexon provides its partners with industrial-scale design and development of complex biological systems.  The UltraVector^® platform delivers unprecedented control over the quality, function, and performance of living cells.  We call our synthetic biology approach and integrated technologies Better DNA^®, and we invite you to discover more at www.dna.com.

About BioPop
Biological & Popular Culture, Inc. (BioPop), a Delaware Corporation, is a majority owned subsidiary of Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON).  All membership interests of Yonder, LLC have been converted to BioPop equity.

BioPop has a passion for science, art and design. Our work can be seen in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and in homes and offices around the world.  BioPop is focused on developing "living art" concepts that fuel the imagination, provide new answers for the way we live, and enlighten our understanding of the relationship between nature, science and humanity.

Safe Harbor Statement
Some of the statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations and projections about future events and generally relate to our plans, objectives and expectations for the development of our business.  Although management believes that the plans and objectives reflected in or suggested by these forward-looking statements are reasonable, all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual future results may be materially different from the plans, objectives and expectations expressed in this press release.

For more information contact:

BioPop, Inc.
Laure Cannesson
Tel: +1 760-515-9246
[email protected]

Intrexon Corporation
Peter McLaughlin
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Tel: +1 323-842-7779
[email protected]

SOURCE Intrexon Corporation