Talk is Biotech! with Harland Brandon

Olivia Wilson
4 min read
May 31, 2025
Tag
Basiic Maill iicon
Talk is Biotech! with Harland Brandon
Post by

Guru sat down with Harland Brandon, Co-Founder & CEO at Allos Bioscience to talk about his motivations to start his own company, creating protein biosensors, the biotech landscape in Alberta and much more.

Allos Biosciences creates protein based biosensors

Allos Biosciences creates custom biosensors for a range of small molecules and detects them in solution in real-time with high specificity and sensitivity. These biosensors are made of biodegradable proteins,so it makes them easy to produce and dispose of.

What kind of companies use biosensors?

“The initial focus for our company is to sell a product of these biosensors as kits to either researchers in the field of carbohydrate research or to companies that have quality testing labs that are looking to measure different carbohydrates and solutions through their processing of their products.” -  Harland Brandon, CEO at Allos Bioscience.

iGEM and it’s contribution to synthetic biology

iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine Foundation) is dedicated to the advancement of synthetic biology. Harland gives us an insight into what happens at iGEM and how it is taking biotechnology to the next level.

Biotech is booming in Alberta

The province of Alberta has historically been associated with oil and gas companies, but times are changing. Harland informs us that the incubators here have begun to let in more biotech companies and are noticing what they can offer even to the oil and gas industries.

BioAlberta’s role in supporting the life-science community

BioAlberta plays a very important role by bringing people together from different sectors and helping to make connections between companies and people much easier. They also offer other valuable benefits such as organizing webinars, conferences and providing a little bit of funding which can be very useful for small startups.

Advice to aspiring bioentrepreneurs

Harland tells aspiring bioentrepreneurs to educate themselves in the business and management fields while they are finishing up their graduate studies. This helps to familiarize them with the business terminology being used, market and fiscal analysis that can help them start their company faster and give them a competitive edge.

keyboard_arrow_down

keyboard_arrow_down

keyboard_arrow_down

keyboard_arrow_down

keyboard_arrow_down

keyboard_arrow_down

keyboard_arrow_down

keyboard_arrow_down

Sign up for the Scispot Newsletter
Get our latest insights and announcements every month.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Check Out Our Other Blog Posts

Build a self‑driving lab stack with Scispot GLUE + Automata Lab Automation

Explore Scispot GLUE and Automata for advanced biotech lab automation solutions, unifying data, powering AI, and accelerating scientific discovery.

Learn more

Volume Spike & Scale Pressure: When Your Lab Outgrows Spreadsheets

Outgrown spreadsheets? Upgrade to LIMS software for scalable lab management, automated sample tracking & seamless data integration in biotech labs. Learn how!

Learn more

Rewiring Your Lab for AI: 6 Essential Steps to make your research lab AI-ready

Learn how to prepare your lab for AI integration through systematic digitization, standardization, and automation. This practical roadmap covers everything from barcoding and data models to advanced AI agents, helping laboratories achieve faster discovery, reduced errors, and enhanced productivity.

Learn more