Four firms get Breakout Labs support

Breakout Labs, an early-stage science investment fund created by billionaire Peter Thiel, is investing in four new companies. Azitra is tapping the skin microbiome to develop treatments for skin disorders; Opus 12, founded by three Stanford University students, has developed a reactor to transform carbon dioxide into chemicals and fuel; Seatrec is trying to eliminate our dependence on lithium batteries with its thermal recharging technology; and ZymoChem is engineering microbes to produce chemicals. Each company will get up to $350,000 over two years to support its research.