Accelerating long DNA production unlocks Synthetic Biology

For more than 15 years life science thought leaders predicted a revolution in synthetic biology, envisioning a world where we rewrite the genetic code and engineer biological systems to cure disease, produce food more sustainably and manufacture biodegradable plastics, textiles and possibly even biofuels.

The billion-dollar question is when will this revolution finally arrive?

A key blocker to this revolution lies in actually writing the high accuracy multi-kilobase DNA that is used to reprogram cells. This complex multistep process often takes three weeks or more. Consequently, synthetic biology remains a ponderous process of trial, error, and serendipity. If we could only write all the long, accurate DNA scientists need in a scalable way – in days instead of weeks – we could employ the rapid design, build, test, learn approach pervasive in engineering. This would massively improve productivity, accelerate progress across the field and finally unlock this revolution.

This is exactly what I’ve been quietly working on for the last few years at my new start-up. I’m finally ready to introduce you to Elegen Bio, where we have pioneered new faster and more scalable methods of writing long, high-accuracy DNA.

Elegen recently began shipping very accurate DNA to beta customers up to 7kb long and is able to deliver most sequences in about 7 business days turnaround time. Further, Elegen's DNA has unparalleled accuracy. More than 95% of molecules are typically sequence perfect, streamlining downstream workflows. Many customers are able to skip traditional cloning entirely and when they can’t, the length and quality of our DNA allows straightforward assembly of 10-20 kb constructs and success from screening just a few colonies.

What does this mean for you?

It means rapid, reliable and predictable delivery of your DNA. It means less effort, time and cost with simplified and accelerated workflows. Most importantly, it means faster and more iterations of the design-build-test-learn cycle that allow you to get better results sooner.

And Elegen is just getting started. By next year, we’ll be delivering even shorter turnaround times, longer DNA and even lower rejection rates.

?How are we doing this?

More on this in due time, but we assembled a highly cross-functional team of biologists and engineers to innovate in areas of molecular biology and microfluidics – and they have.

Keep an eye out here for updates on how Elegen is engineering better DNA so you can better engineer biology, and sign up to join the queue to get the longest and fastest high-accuracy DNA.

?One more thing. Reinventing DNA is a big job and we’re going to need the help of dedicated, impact driven people to do that. If you are interested in being part of the synthetic biology revolution, we want to hear from you.