Gen9 Develops Novel Multiplex Synthesis Platform For DNA Assembly

Proprietary technology enables manufacture of billions of base pairs of DNA at a fraction of today’s costs

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gen9 today announced it has developed a novel multiplex DNA assembly approach which scales the manufacture of synthetic DNA by nearly two orders of magnitude. Gen9 has applied this technology to long-length DNA construction, building 50 gene-length DNA constructs simultaneously in a single reaction. Comprising advancements in software, chemistry and biology, multiplexing technology will be applied to Gen9’s BioFab^® next-generation DNA synthesis platform over the next 12 months.

“Global DNA synthesis capacity is currently limited to hundreds of millions of base pairs of DNA per year. Gen9’s multiplex technology has the potential to scale that to billions of base pairs and to make possible the idea of realizing a $1,000 synthetic genome”

The BioFab^® platform is the first and only industrialized, chip-based manufacturing technology for DNA synthesis and assembly. Now, the addition of proprietary multiplexing technology further increases its manufacturing capacity and will decrease costs to a fraction of one penny per base pair when fully implemented. This first-of-its-kind advancement will also narrow the DNA read-write gap, allowing scientists to leverage DNA sequence information to discover the next generation of breakthroughs in therapeutics, biofuels, chemicals and more.

“Global DNA synthesis capacity is currently limited to hundreds of millions of base pairs of DNA per year. Gen9’s multiplex technology has the potential to scale that to billions of base pairs and to make possible the idea of realizing a $1,000 synthetic genome,” said Joseph Jacobson, co-founder of Gen9 and Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

While manufacture and usage of synthetic genes are growing rapidly, there still remains a massive discrepancy between the annual global capacity for “reading” DNA (sequencing) and “writing” DNA (synthesis), leaving researchers with a challenge in turning the vast information from genome sequencing projects into quickly actionable results. Gen9 is narrowing this gap through massively-parallel DNA manufacture.

“Our BioFab^® platform makes manual, time-consuming PCR cloning methods for working with DNA obsolete. This enables scientists to get to their answers faster by designing, building and testing many sequences at once, rather than serially,” said Devin Leake, Vice President of R&D at Gen9. “And with the addition of multiplexing technology, we will open the doors for all sorts of new uses for DNA, from information storage to counterfeit prevention and data encryption.”

For more information, please visit www.gen9bio.com.

About Gen9

Gen9 is the premier next-generation gene synthesis company focused on high-quality, high-throughput, automated production of DNA constructs. The Gen9 technology allows for the lowest-cost and highest-quality DNA constructs commercially available. Founded by world leaders in synthetic biology, Gen9 aims to ensure the constructive application of synthetic biology in industries ranging from enzyme and chemical production to pharmaceuticals and biofuels. Gen9 is powering the synthetic biology revolution from our headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Visit Gen9 at www.gen9bio.com.