Category: Strain Optimization Services

Optimizing Enzyme Expression and Performance with Zymtronix

Posted on by Ena Cratsenburg

Optimizing enzymes for Zymtronix’s cell-free manufacturing platform

Today we are pleased to announce our partnership with Zymtronix, a developer of cell-free process technologies. Together we aim to optimize enzymes used in Zymtronix’s proprietary cell-free platform for the production of important ingredients in food, agriculture, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Enzymatic biocatalysis is a powerful manufacturing technology that can enable the production of a wide range of chemicals and molecules. Zymtronix’s cell-free platform is designed to solve challenges associated with traditional biocatalysis and seeks to enable the production of a wide range of products with precision and productivity. By partnering with us to build and produce bioengineered market-ready enzymes, Zymtronix anticipates being able to extend its solutions into the pharma, nutrition, agriculture markets, among others.

Zymtronix aims to leverage Ginkgo Enzyme Services to discover, optimize, and produce enzymes

Ginkgo Enzyme Services offers partners end-to-end support for the discovery, optimization, and production of enzymes for diverse applications. Through the partnership, we will leverage our suite of enzyme services to engineer enzymes for Zymtronix’s applications using metagenomic enzyme discovery as well as improve enzyme expression and production host performance.

We’re thrilled to welcome Zymtronix to the platform and support their applications in sustainable ingredients and beyond. We’ve built out our platform to serve a wide variety of enzyme discovery, engineering, optimization and scale up efforts, and we’re so excited for the work to come in this partnership. Zymtronix’s cell-free biomanufacturing platform is pioneering solutions for various industries, and we’re eager to leverage our end-to-end capabilities and help expand its efforts in transforming the way enzymes are used.

“This partnership will greatly accelerate our work of bringing the precision and scalability of cell-free biomanufacturing and sustainable ingredients to market starting with alternatives to animal sources; Ginkgo is uniquely able to support us with both enzyme engineering and strain expression, helping us continue to accelerate commercialization,” said Stéphane Corgié, CEO-CTO and founder, Zymtronix. “We hope to extend this partnership in the future to facilitate the production of multiple end-market products.”

To learn more about Ginkgo Enzyme Services, please visit ginkgobioworks.com/enzyme-services/.

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

Biobased Alternatives to Synthetic Polymers with Bioweg

Posted on by Ena Cratsenburg

Developing cost-effective biobased materials as clean alternatives to synthetic polymers

Today, we’re announcing a new collaboration with Bioweg, a producer of highly functional and customizable biobased materials. Our partnership aims to optimize the production of bacterial cellulose and to produce novel variants of cellulose with improved performance to serve a variety of end markets.

Bioweg’s products are made of biodegradable bacterial cellulose and have already been tested and implemented by companies as an effective substitute for widely used synthetic polymers such as acrylates, polyethylene, and polystyrene. Synthetic polymers often appear as microbeads (i.e., micropowders) and texturants (i.e., Rheology modifiers) in products throughout cosmetics, homecare, personal care, agricultural coatings, and other industries, which contribute to microplastic pollution in waters worldwide. It is estimated that an average person could be ingesting about 5 grams of plastic each week (PDF) through the consumption of common foods and beverages. These microplastics are non-biodegradable and may carry toxic chemicals. Regulatory agencies and communities around the world are starting to regulate microplastics contamination. Just last year, the European Chemical Agency announced phasing out microbeads in ‘rinse-off’ and ‘leave-on’ cosmetics.

Leveraging our strain engineering and screening capabilities to deliver biobased solutions at scale

“Consumers and companies are united in their commitment to finding better performing and more sustainable alternatives for everyday products to break the chain of microplastic pollution. Our solutions are not just tackling a major environmental, sustainability and health problem, but also present a robust market opportunity to replace plastic polymers in care, coatings, chemicals, and other industries,” said Prateek Mahalwar, CEO at Bioweg. “We believe Ginkgo’s strain engineering and screening capabilities can enable us to deliver our biobased solutions at scale and competitive pricing.”

Bioweg is addressing a significant need in the marketplace to develop and produce a new generation of clean alternatives to synthetic polymers. We are committed to supporting the shift to sustainable and biobased high-performance alternatives and are thrilled to be working with Bioweg to address the pressing issues of microplastics contamination and promote responsible consumption.

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

Better Baby Formula with NAMUH

Posted on by Jason Kelly

Ginkgo will develop and optimize strains to produce functional oligosaccharides for NAMUH’s infant nutrition products

Today, we are pleased to announce a multi-product collaboration with NAMUH, an infant nutrition company, to develop functional oligosaccharides that are structurally identical to those found in human breast milk.

NAMUH’s mission is to create complete infant formula products substantially comparable to human breast milk, down to the molecular level. Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) are essential fiber-like nutrients unique to human milk that provide an important energy source to beneficial gut bacteria in infants. Despite being the third most abundant component in human milk, HMOs are currently a small component in infant formulas, if present at all.

Producing HMOs through yeast fermentation

Currently, NAMUH’s proprietary technology provides for a cost-effective source of a family of HMOs via yeast fermentation. NAMUH will leverage Ginkgo’s expertise in yeast strain engineering and fermentation process development through this partnership. Our aim is to enable the production of various HMOs through yeast fermentation and to unlock the possibility of making infant formula nutritionally robust and much closer to human breast milk.

NAMUH plans to leverage Ginkgo’s platform to develop and optimize strains

“Consumer demand for high quality, safe, infant nutrition products is growing, and NAMUH is thrilled to partner with Ginkgo to accelerate our market entry into this rapidly evolving category,” said Dr. Chaeyoung Shin, founder and CEO at NAMUH. “We believe engineering biology is the perfect way to produce crucial nutrients for babies, and together with Ginkgo, we are excited to play a key role in improving how future generations are fed.”

We seek out partners like NAMUH that are using biology to create category-leading products in legacy industries. Countless families around the world rely on infant formula every day, and we are thrilled to be working with NAMUH as they aim to create a healthier, safer formula that parents can depend on.

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

Engineering Bacteria for Cancer Patient Treatment with Prokarium

Posted on by Ena Cratsenburg

Partnership with Prokarium to discover multiple targets for RNA therapeutics and immuno-oncology

Today, we’re announcing a new partnership with Prokarium – a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the oncology field of microbial immunotherapy – to develop a bactofection platform to deliver RNA-based therapeutics.

Most gene therapies today use viral delivery systems, which may have limited utility due to toxicity and targeting issues. Bactofection, the process of transferring genetic material into a mammalian cell via a bacterium, is an alternative gene delivery system that could deliver therapeutic agents to a patient. In bactofection, the naturally occurring tumor-colonizing characteristics of bacterial species, such as Salmonella, can be modified via genetic manipulation and harnessed to be a targeted delivery vehicle for various therapeutic payloads.

Developing bactofection platform to treat cancer patients

In collaboration with Prokarium, Ginkgo will set out to engineer a Salmonella-based bactofection platform for the delivery of RNA payloads to treat cancer patients, building on existing capabilities in RNA therapeutics, viral-based gene therapy and bacterial therapeutics.

“By leveraging Ginkgo’s microbial and mammalian foundry capabilities, we are building a highly versatile and innovative bactofection platform to support delivery of novel modalities from the ground up,” said Kristen Albright, CEO at Prokarium. “Through this partnership, we are working to unlock a new generation of immuno-oncology therapeutics.”

Advancements in immunotherapy such as checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T have transformed the treatment of certain cancers, with tremendous progress across novel modalities continuing to build. With Prokarium, we will work to develop a bactofection platform that leverages the convergence of these advancements in immuno-oncology, gene therapy, RNA therapeutics and bacterial therapeutics. We are  excited to bolster our work with leading companies like Prokarium, which can utilize our services to innovate and expand what is possible with novel therapeutics.

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

Celebrating Cronos Group’s First-of-a-Kind CBC Product

Posted on by Ginkgo Bioworks

Cronos Unveils its New CBC Product, the Spinach FEELZ™ Day Trip Gummies with THC+CBC, Developed on the Ginkgo Platform

We’re so excited to congratulate our customer Cronos – an innovative global cannabinoid company – for launching a CBC-focused product, the Spinach FEELZ™ THC+CBC Day Trip Mango Lime gummies, utilizing our platform for organism design and development.

The Spinach FEELZ™ Day Trip gummies are the first CBC gummy product in Canada and the first of its kind to feature a 3:1 ratio of CBC to THC. The product is currently available in Alberta and British Columbia and will be rolled out to additional provinces over the coming weeks:

  • SPINACH FEELZ™ THC+CBC DAY TRIP GUMMIES: Grab your bag, your friends and get going! A new day’s adventure awaits with Spinach FEELZ™ Day Trip gummies. From sun-up to sun-down, feel at ease and in tune with all the scents, sights, and sounds this glorious world has to offer. These one-of-a-kind THC+CBC gummies are packed with delicious mango-lime flavors and are sure to make for good times with friends. Five sour-then-sweet gummies with 10mg of THC and 30mg of CBC per pack.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

Optimizing Production of Biobased Speciality Chemicals with Lygos

Posted on by Ena Cratsenburg

Strain development program aims to accelerate efforts to create sustainable chemicals

Today we’re pleased to announce our multi-product research and development collaboration with Lygos. This partnership is designed to optimize and scale production of sustainable specialty ingredients that can replace toxic petrochemistry, reclaim local manufacturing, and advance industrial bio-innovation.

Together, we plan to advance two research and development programs over the course of approximately two years. Lygos’ organic acid targets are used to produce biodegradable formulations and polymer-based products used in consumer, agricultural and industrial markets. We at Ginkgo will leverage our extensive expertise in strain development and metabolic engineering as we work to rapidly design and optimize microorganisms that can convert low-cost sugar to high-value chemicals. This in turn can provide a more sustainable alternative to the traditional industrial chemicals that are made from petroleum-derived feedstock.

Creating sustainable biomanufacturing solutions

Many specialty organic acids rely on environmentally damaging and costly production processes. We’re excited to be working with Lygos to replace some of those harmful production methods with sustainable, environmentally friendly biomanufacturing processes. Ginkgo is committed to creating solutions that are better for the planet, and this partnership with Lygos will help advance our initiatives around climate sustainability while supporting domestic manufacturing and technology development.

“Lygos and Ginkgo have been at the forefront of this field, enabling customers to create sustainable products that can help solve the world’s environmental challenges and improve everyday products,” said Eric Steen, PhD, CEO at Lygos.  “The new partnership will enable us to augment our development timelines, allocate more research and development, and accelerate our product commercialization programs.”

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

High Throughput Screening for Designing Novel CAR-T Cell Therapies

Posted on by Shawdee Eshghi

Pooled screening platform for discovering the next generation of CARs

Image of a poster containing CAR-T data

Ginkgo is proud to present a poster this Friday, November 11 at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). The poster highlights our Foundry-enabled methods for large-scale, combinatorial library design and screening of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) domains for improved persistence. The ability to screen hundreds of thousands of CAR designs in primary human T cells can enable discovery of variants with desired characteristics. This capability has the potential to discover CAR-T therapies that are effective against solid tumors.

CAR-T cell therapies show tremendous promise for the treatment of cancer. But so far, their use has been limited to targeting blood cancers, as CAR-T has failed to show consistent efficacy in treating solid tumors, which represent approximately 90% of adult human cancers. Part of the challenge when applying CAR-T therapies to solid tumors lies in T cell exhaustion, a state of dysfunction arising from excessive antigen stimulation in the immunosuppressive environment of a solid tumor.

Therapeutic outcomes of CAR-T cell therapies—including CAR-T persistence—correspond to T cell behaviors driven by signaling cascades that are triggered by the intracellular domains (ICD) of CARs. Until now, technical constraints in high throughput screening have made the systematic design and testing of novel ICD combinations that drive more favorable T cell phenotypes onerous. New data we are presenting at SITC will demonstrate that our high throughput screening method enables massively parallel testing of CAR designs and has led to the discovery of new ICD combinations that outperform the canonical CD28-CD3z and 4-1BB-CD3z combinations.

Discovering next generation CAR-T cell therapies

Our platform for cell programming enables synthesis and screening of diverse libraries of genetic constructs to explore biological space. Applying these capabilities to the design of CARs enables screening of hundreds of thousands of possible combinatorial variants of different CAR ICDs. The data we will present at SITC will show how this method could be used to screen for variants with increased persistence in a serial tumor rechallenge assay. As an enabling platform company, we can leverage our full stack of mammalian cell engineering expertise and capabilities to enable the high throughput screening of CAR-T cells to discover and optimize next generation therapeutic candidates for our partners.

While innovation in CAR-T cell therapies continues to grow at a dramatic pace, CAR-T is still a relatively new modality whose potential is just beginning to be fully explored. With large scale screening and automation, we have created a tool we believe can dramatically expand the variety and functionality of CAR domains so that our partners can build therapies targeted for particular tumor environments.

“We’ve only seen a small sliver of what revolutionary modalities like CAR-T can achieve in terms of patient outcomes. Being able to explore broader design space for this powerful technology can help unlock new potential in solid tumor treatment, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, and beyond.” said Arie Belldegrun, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Allogene Therapeutics and Kite Therapeutics and member of the Board of Directors for Ginkgo Bioworks. “The scale of Ginkgo’s platform helps to enable discovery and innovation in this important arena.”

You can view our poster at SITC. To register, visit www.sitcancer.org/2022.

Presentation details:

Date & Time: Friday, November 11, 2022 at 9 am – 8:30 pm, EST
Title: Pooled screening platform for discovering the next generation Chimeric Antigen Receptors
Presenting Author: Taeyoon Kyung, PhD, Senior Mammalian Engineer, Ginkgo Bioworks
Poster Number: 242

Click here to speak with our team and learn more about leveraging our platform.

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

Enhancing Biomaterials with Bolt Threads

Posted on by Jason Kelly

The new program builds on our existing work with Bolt Threads optimizing their b-silk protein

Today we’re announcing a multi-project collaboration with Bolt Threads, a biotechnology company creating the next generation of advanced materials, to increase the production efficiency and performance of their portfolio of products and to develop additional novel proteins for their biomaterials. The first program in this collaboration aims to optimize the production efficiency of Bolt’s Mylo™ material, a leather alternative material made out of mycelium, the underground root-like system of fungi.

Mylo is an animal-free, sustainable alternative to leather grown from mycelium 

Through Bolt Threads’ production process, mycelium grows into a foamy layer that, once harvested, can be dyed and processed into sheets of material that can be customized to desired size, color, shape, and thicknesses. Mylo can be used in footwear, handbags, wallets, phone cases, and other products; the product is already used by brands like adidas, Stella McCartney, GANNI, and lululemon. Unlike traditional leather made from animal hides, mycelium leather does not rely on raising livestock, and unlike synthetic leather, Mylo isn’t petroleum-derived.

Through this collaboration, we aim to increase the growth rate of Bolt’s mycelium strain, lowering the overall production costs of Mylo. This collaboration also marks an expansion of our current work together, as we are already optimizing the sustainability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of Bolt Threads’ b-silk™ protein manufacturing process.

Over the last few years, the largest fashion brands worldwide and the textiles industry have collectively recognized the need to develop more sustainable and low-footprint materials. Bolt Threads is at the forefront of this shift, and Mylo represents this future. We are excited to leverage our Foundry and Codebase to help drive down the cost of producing Mylo, making the product more accessible to a variety of markets where innovative and exciting alternative materials can be used.

“Ginkgo’s expertise in engineering biology has enabled us to accelerate our work transforming the clean beauty and personal care industries with b-silk protein,” said David Breslauer, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Bolt Threads. “We are thrilled to be partnering with them again to optimize the production of our mycelium technology which will help make Mylo more accessible to consumers and brands alike.”

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

Ginkgo Expands Agricultural Biologicals Division, Closes Deal with Bayer

Posted on by Jason Kelly

Today, Ginkgo closed our deal with Bayer, expanding our ag biologics division.

As a result of the close:

  • The nitrogen fixation and R&D platform assets of Joyn Bio are now integrated into Ginkgo.
  • Bayer’s West Sacramento Biologics Research & Development site and platform is now a part of Ginkgo’s ag biologics division.
  • Ginkgo becomes a multi-year strategic partner with Bayer to develop biological solutions in areas such as nitrogen optimization, carbon sequestration, and next generation crop protection.
  • Bayer will continue work to optimize Joyn Bio’s nitrogen fixation technology, aiming to complement synthetic fertilizers going forward.

Today we’re pleased to announce the beginning of our multi-year strategic partnership with Bayer to accelerate research and development of biological products for agriculture. The transaction includes the divestment of Bayer’s West Sacramento Biologics Research & Development site and its internal discovery and lead optimization platform; these assets are now integrated into Ginkgo.

Through this deal, the nitrogen fixation and R&D platform assets of Joyn Bio—the joint venture created by Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks in 2017—will be fully integrated into Ginkgo. This will enable the continued advancement of Joyn Bio’s innovative nitrogen fixation platform. As part of the agreement, Bayer retains the right to commercialize the technology to complement synthetic fertilizer use in the coming years.

Sustainable, climate-smart and innovative agricultural solutions

Bayer is now the first major partner of Ginkgo Bioworks’ expanded agricultural biologicals platform. The new collaboration will be focused on important programs in the areas of crop protection, nitrogen fixation, and carbon sequestration to identify next generation biologicals that provide clear benefits to growers.

“Biological solutions play a critical role in the agricultural innovation ecosystem, and we see tremendous opportunity for these products to add even more value for agriculture in the future,” said Dr. Robert Reiter, Head of R&D at Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “[Bayer’s] open innovation approach will accelerate the product pipeline and will make sure that we bring high-quality biological solutions and innovative technologies to the market faster.”

Microbial derived products for agriculture

Here at Ginkgo, we’re committed to harnessing the power of programmable biology to enable sustainable food production and food security worldwide. We aim to develop and advance agricultural microbial solutions across crops and geographies through broad, fully-enabled technical platforms that address diverse market needs. We will work independently with different partners in the discovery of microbial derived products for agriculture.

We look forward to partnering with Bayer and other innovative companies to bring more applications on to Ginkgo’s expanded agricultural biologicals platform so that growers worldwide can develop breakthrough products.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

This blog post contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding Ginkgo’s expectations regarding its ability to expand its platform capabilities in agricultural biologicals through the transaction and the expected outcomes and benefits of the transaction. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties as described in the “Risk Factors” section of Ginkgo’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on August 15, 2022 and other documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. Actual events and results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

Optimizing Crucial Drug Manufacturing of APIs with Merck

Posted on by Cindy Chang

Ginkgo to engineer key biocatalytic enzymes for potential use in Merck’s drug manufacturing processes

Today, Ginkgo is proud to announce a collaboration with Merck to optimize the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The aim is to engineer up to four enzymes for use as biocatalysts in Merck’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing efforts. Through this collaboration, we will leverage our extensive experience in cell engineering and enzyme design, along with our capabilities in automated high throughput screening, manufacturing process development/optimization, bioinformatics and analytics to deliver optimal strains for expression of targeted biocatalysts.

Biocatalysis is a sustainable and effective alternative to some steps in industrial chemical synthesis

Enzyme biocatalysts can reduce costly synthesis and purification steps, thereby decreasing production costs. Through this collaboration, we aim to optimize several biocatalysts by leveraging our world-class proprietary fungal strains, cell line development, enzyme engineering and optimization, and multiomics expertise.

“Ginkgo’s fungal strains present a major opportunity for improving biocatalysis. E. coli is currently the mainstay host for expressing enzymes, but a large number of enzymes will not express properly in E. coli, and those that do express in E. coli may have better homologs that only express in fungal strains,” said Behzad Mahdavi, our Senior Vice President of Biopharma Manufacturing and Life Sciences Tools. “This enzyme optimization project with Merck has the potential to help reduce the cost of goods and enable a more robust supply chain for APIs.”

Merck is a pioneer in biocatalysis, improving manufacturing of crucial medicines. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Merck and to be leveraging our platform capabilities for improved enzyme activity and production. Ginkgo’s platform model enables us to identify improved enzymes and develop powerful fungal strains and fermentation processes for enzyme manufacturing, empowering downstream API production for our customers.

Under the terms of the collaboration, Ginkgo will earn an upfront research and development fee and is eligible for success-based research and development milestone payments. In addition, Ginkgo is eligible to earn commercial milestone payments for each of a specified number of biocatalysis targets, which have the potential to total, in the aggregate, up to $144 million. To learn more about Ginkgo’s work in enzyme discovery, visit this webpage and talk to our team today.

Find the full press release here along with all of the latest news from the Ginkgo team.

What will you grow with Ginkgo?