Ginkgo Bioworks and Prospect Bio team up to speed ingredient development

It was just this month that Ginkgo Bioworks announced the opening of a second biotech ingredient development and production facility​. As designed, the 18,000 square-foot Bioworks2 foundry ups the company’s capacity 6 times. And in the next two years, Gingko intends to expand its footprint even more, to a “scale [that] will enable the company to continue to partner with Fortune 1000 companies on new biological products that are better for people and the planet, from flavors to fragrance to other bio-based materials,” ​according to a press release about the new foundry.

Tech tools​

To speed up production in the meantime, Ginkgo Bioworks has partnered with the California – based biosensor maker Prospect Bio.

Sensors from the company screen things like “evolved genetic diversity”​ and “libraries of rationally engineered strains.” ​At Gingko the sensors will be used in conjunction with existing screening methods to quickly and affordably assess parallel microbial strains. The speeder process is expected to bring useful ingredients into commercial production more quickly and greatly reduce the expense of screening.  

“The synergy between our foundry tools and Prospect’s biosensors means lower costs and faster development times across a range of our projects,”​ affirms Nate Tedford, head of Ginkgo’s test platform, in a media release about the new partnership.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Prospect Bio on new tools that will help us grow our capabilities even further.”​

For Prospect Bio the partnership is about not only providing a cutting-edge tool but also showcasing the potential of its sensors: The deal is “an incredible opportunity to demonstrate the...wide-ranging capabilities of our custom biosensors,”​ Giles Ochs, co-founder of Prospect Bio, tells the press.