An early access program for semiconductor synthesized DNA has been opened by UK-based gene synthetic biology company, Evonetix.
Evonetix’s DNA synthesis capability brings together semiconductor chip design and proprietary, thermally controlled synthesis chemistry, integral to the company’s future gene synthesis platforms.
Silicon chip
The company’s proprietary process utilizes a silicon chip to control the synthesis of DNA at many thousands of independent thermally controlled reaction sites, or ‘pixels’, on the chip surface.
Matt Hayes, founder and chief technology officer at Evonetix, said: “We have been working on optimizing the different elements of our technology ready to share DNA with researchers.
“Reaching this point in our development is a key milestone, paving the way for the expansion in scale that only semiconductor-based technologies can achieve.”
Long DNA
Combined with the company’s patented chemistry, this approach enables the accurate synthesis of thousands of sequences on a single chip to meet the demand for complex libraries and assembly of long DNA, addressing the DNA supply bottleneck in the field of synthetic biology.
Researchers are invited to apply to be included in the company’s early access program to receive some of the first DNA prepared using its technology and demonstrate the efficacy of Evonetix DNA in routine molecular biology workflows.
The Cambridge-based company will then look to scale up the parallel synthesis capacity of its semiconductor chips as it works toward future full commercialization of its technology.
Global challenges
Colin McCracken, CEO of Evonetix said: “Biology is driving a revolution that will change the way we live and help solve some of the biggest problems faced by our planet today. At the core of this is the ability to deliver DNA better and faster to researchers working on these global challenges.
“The current model for DNA synthesis can’t deliver on the future demand for DNA. Building a platform capable of this requires highly parallel, distributed synthesis. Evonetix is ready to meet these challenges and open the door to the exciting next phase of our development.”
Researchers interested in applying to be included in the early access program can visit the following page.