GenScript Launches Enhanced GenBrick Gene Synthesis Service for Building Synthetic Genomes

PISCATAWAY, N.J., June 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- GenScript®, the world's leading gene synthesis provider, announced today a significant upgrade to its GenBrick™ Gene Synthesis platform, bringing researchers access to DNA sequences up to 200kb long with 100 percent accuracy. Building on GenScript's expertise in molecular biology and gene synthesis, GenBrick employs a newly developed proprietary technology for accurate and efficient one-step DNA assembly.

"GenBrick addresses the significant challenge of extremely low efficiency in the "build" phase of synthetic biology projects, which ultimately leads to novel ideas being delayed or cancelled," said Cedric Wu, Ph.D., GenScript Vice President of R&D. "As a pioneer in gene synthesis, we are proud to add very long DNA sequences to our GenBrick service, giving researchers a one-stop shop for any natural or de novo synthetic DNA sequence, gene or genome, regardless of size or complexity."

Long sequences of DNA are required for many current and future applications of synthetic biology, such as the development of new bio-based therapeutics, chemicals and materials, new methods of information processing and data storage, and new sources of food and energy. However, there are significant bottlenecks in the "build" phase of synthetic biology projects, particularly with genome synthesis and genome editing. Assembling sequences of very long length is one challenge researchers must overcome. In addition, when preparing short gene fragments, which are used for final assembly, researchers often fail due to difficulties caused by sequence features such as structure or instability. 

To solve these problems, researchers at GenScript have optimized the process and enhanced the technology to better handle difficult sequences. They have also developed a new technology to solve some of the assembly challenges, enabling them to quickly and accurately create long DNA sequences in one step that are free of any mutations or negative clones. Most current methods of assembling long DNA sequences rely on combining oligos or short DNA fragments in a multi-step process until the desired length is achieved.  

The GenBrick service has been successfully tested and used in a number of synthetic biology projects, including the Synthetic 2.0 Yeast Genome (Sc2.0) project led by notable synthetic biology pioneer Jef Boeke, PhD. while he was a professor at Johns Hopkins University. As a participant in Sc2.0, GenScript successfully synthesized the long arm of yeast chromosome VI, which consists of a total of 170kb of DNA in 17 chunk fragments. GenScript is the first purely commercial partner in the Sc2.0 International Consortium, which is striving to build the first designer synthetic eukaryotic genome for potentially high value industrial applications.

GenBrick complements GenScript's comprehensive portfolio of molecular biology services, such as gene and DNA fragment synthesis, mutagenesis services, library services and plasmid preparation, among other offerings. Since its founding in 2002, GenScript has completed more than 600,000 gene synthesis projects for scientists around the world.

"As an organization founded on the principle of making people and nature healthier through the use of biotechnology, GenScript is dedicated to supporting the emerging field of synthetic biology," added Wu. "Like scientists in biotechnology, pioneers in the field of synthetic biology are striving to build a better more sustainable world using biology. Although we have combatted disease and produced drugs via biological devices, we must overcome new challenges such as novel pathogens caused by host cell background. We look forward to continuing our efforts to advance synthetic biology so that we may better understand, cure and prevent disease, and develop new products and methods for a safer, healthier planet."

To that end, GenScript supports Genome-Project Write (GP-Write), led by Jef Boeke, Ph.D., George M. Church, Ph.D, Andrew Hessel, and Nancy J. Kelley, J.D., and implemented through the non-profit Center for Excellence in Engineering Biology. GP-Write's first grand-scale community-wide project is to develop "ultra-safe cells" that resist natural viruses and potentially radiation, freezing, aging and cancer. Ultra-safe cells could lead to better, safer and cheaper pharmaceuticals and ultimately have a significantly positive impact on human health. These ultra-safe cells may be created by the recoding approach addressed in the Nature paper entitled as "Total synthesis of Escherichia coli with a recoded genome".

About GenScript
GenScript is a leading contract research organization providing gene, peptide, protein, CRISPR, and antibody reagents to scientists in over 100 countries worldwide. Since its foundation in 2002, GenScript has grown exponentially through partnerships with scientists conducting fundamental life science and translational biomedical research, as well as early stage pharmaceutical development. With a mission to improve the health of mankind and nature through biotechnology, the company has developed the best-in-class capacity and capability for producing biological reagents in order to Make Research Easy for all scientists. For more information, visit www.genscript.com.

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