Rapid pathway prototyping for novel bio-based chemicals: Two case studies

Venue: Edificio Povo 1, via Sommarive nr. 5, Povo (Tn) - Room A203
 At 3.00 p.m.

• Massimo Merighi - Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.

Histones Rapid prototyping of novel metabolic pathways for biobased chemicals is often a requirement for proof of concept, appropriate project derisking, and ultimately for more accurate program costing. The process requirements are to explore an as granular and possible metabolic space, both in term of enzyme diversity and expression levels, in a short period of time, and containing cost. The Ginkgo Bioworks foundry, combining highly automated synthetic biology unit operations with high throughput analytics controlled by custom scheduling software, is ideally suited for massively parallel approaches that can significantly reduce the time required for pathway prototyping. We will discuss two case studies of pathways developed by Ginkgo or in collaboration with Genomatica, one involving the engineering of a substrate co-feed in Escherichia coli, and the second concerning the engineering for the production of a platform chemical intermediate, also in E.coli. We will present data outlining the essence of our design cycle, its trade-offs in term of cost and benefit and timelines, including a history of how this design cycle has evolved over time to take advantage of new technological developments.