People
The Team
Scoville Splice is built on the convergence of disciplines that rarely share a lab bench. Designing peppers at 13 million SHU required expertise spanning computational biology, molecular genetics, artificial intelligence, food science, and intellectual property law — integrated into a single pipeline where each stage feeds the next.
What makes the Capsaicin Design Platform possible isn’t any single discipline. It’s the integration. RNA-seq data feeds the metabolic model. The model identifies targets for CRISPR engineering. AI scans protein sequence space for enhanced enzyme variants. Blend chemistry translates genetic modifications into precise heat profiles. And DNA assembly turns it all into synthesis-ready constructs.
Computational Biology
RNA-seq pipeline design, differential gene expression analysis using PyDESeq2, and transcriptomic profiling of capsaicinoid biosynthesis pathways across developmental time series. Turning raw sequencing data into actionable engineering targets.
Salmon, PyDESeq2, COBRApy, Python
Metabolic Engineering
Constraint-based metabolic modeling and flux balance analysis of capsaicinoid biosynthesis. Building the 37-metabolite, 44-reaction model that identified the vanillylamine branch as the 90% flux controller — overturning the field's prevailing assumption.
COBRApy, FBA, sensitivity analysis
AI Protein Design
Protein language modeling with ESM2 (650M parameters) to scan every possible single-amino-acid substitution in capsaicin synthase (Pun1/AT3). Identifying the mutations — S39L, L345G, C175S — predicted to enhance catalytic activity and substrate specificity.
ESM2, PyTorch, protein structure analysis
Molecular Genetics & CRISPR
Design of 24 precision CRISPR-SpCas9 guide RNAs across four genomic targets. Peroxidase knockout constructs to eliminate capsaicinoid degradation, and overexpression cassettes for pathway bottleneck enzymes PAL and COMT.
CRISPR-SpCas9, guide RNA design, off-target analysis
Bioinformatics & Data Engineering
Genome annotation, sequence alignment, construct assembly, and the data pipelines connecting RNA-seq outputs to metabolic models to CRISPR designs. Generating 25 synthesis-ready DNA constructs totaling 31,911 base pairs.
Biopython, GenBank submission, FASTA/GFF processing
Food Science & Blend Chemistry
Capsaicinoid blend ratio optimization across all 10 cultivar specifications. Calculating exact five-compound ratios that account for TRPV1 receptor binding thermodynamics, onset speed, burn duration, and sensory profile characteristics.
HPLC method design, SHU calculation, sensory modeling
Intellectual Property Strategy
Patent architecture covering the computational platform, engineered cultivar specifications, and DNA constructs. Coordination of public disclosures through bioRxiv, Zenodo, and GenBank while maintaining patent protection.
Provisional patent, trademark strategy, DOI management
Synthetic Biology & Yeast Chassis
Design of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae chassis for capsaicinoid fermentation: 9 codon-optimized genes across 4 genomic loci, host pathway rewiring (ARO4/ARO7 feedback-resistant mutants), and metabolic engineering for 100-500 mg/L expected yield.
Codon optimization, yeast genomic integration, pathway engineering
Culture of Rigor
Every claim in our preprint is backed by quantitative data. Every CRISPR guide has off-target scoring. Every ESM2 mutation prediction includes a log-likelihood ratio. Every blend ratio is derived from TRPV1 binding thermodynamics. We publish our methods, deposit our sequences, and archive our preprints — because science that can’t be verified isn’t science.
Our preprint is available at bioRxiv (BIORXIV/2026/758036). All DNA sequences are deposited at NCBI GenBank (SUB16548149). The complete data package is archived at Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23267360).