CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gen9, Inc., a pioneer in the development of scalable technologies for synthesizing and assembling DNA, today announced the winner of its second annual G-Prize contest. A team led by Farren Isaacs, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University, will receive up to 1 million base pairs of synthetic DNA manufactured with Gen9’s unique next-generation gene synthesis technology. Isaacs, together with Adrian Haimovich, a student in the Yale M.D.-Ph.D. Program, will utilize these made-to-order DNA constructs to decipher cellular signaling networks and to create the largest-ever data set of in vivo protein-protein interactions.
The Isaacs Lab at Yale is focused on developing foundational genomic and cellular engineering technologies to better understand natural systems and to create organisms whose genomes have been streamlined by genome engineering to enable novel biological functions. Their goal is to uncover new properties of biological systems and to generate new phenotypes that can be applied to address global challenges in medicine, energy supply, and the environment.
“We are honored that our project was selected for this year’s G-Prize. Deciphering the full connectivity guided by protein-protein interactions requires synthetic approaches that scale beyond current methods,” said Isaacs. “The 1 million base pairs of DNA from Gen9 will allow us to re-encode larger subsets of biomolecular interactions and create a first-of-its-kind data set that we believe will help guide future studies of kinase signaling and potentially yield new drug targets.”
Gen9 has developed unique, next-generation technologies for synthesizing and assembling DNA constructs for use in numerous synthetic biology applications, including antibody, peptide and enzyme engineering; gene and pathway building; and genome construction. Today, Gen9 is manufacturing and shipping double-stranded GeneBits™, GeneBytes™, and GeneBytes Plus™ DNA constructs, or gene fragments from 500 to 10,000 base pairs long. The company’s innovative BioFab® platform has the capacity to generate tens of thousands of synthetic gene fragments per year in just a few square feet of laboratory space.
“This year’s G-Prize represents the single largest award of synthetic DNA constructs ever granted from a commercial entity to an individual research lab,” said Kevin Munnelly, CEO of Gen9. “The Gen9 technology allows for the lowest-cost and highest-quality DNA constructs commercially available, and we are pleased to support pioneering researchers such as Dr. Isaacs through our annual G-Prize.”
The G-Prize contest, conceived and exclusively sponsored by Gen9, was launched to foster creative and innovative approaches for using synthetic DNA to advance industries including chemical and enzyme production, biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and even data storage. Contestants submitted applications describing their breakthrough ideas for using gene constructs, and those entries were judged by a panel of experts chosen by Gen9. The 2013 G-Prize awarded one winner a free library of DNA constructs equaling 1 million base pairs. Each DNA construct manufactured by Gen9 is a double-stranded gene fragment from 500 to 10,000 base pairs in length. Based on the current average market cost of similar DNA constructs, the total market value of this year’s prize exceeds $500,000.
For more information about the G-Prize and its winners, please visit www.gen9bio.com.
About Gen9
Gen9 is the premier next-generation gene synthesis company focused on high-quality, high-throughput, automated production of DNA constructs. The Gen9 technology allows for the lowest-cost and highest-quality DNA constructs commercially available. Founded by world leaders in synthetic biology, Gen9 aims to ensure the constructive application of synthetic biology in industries ranging from enzyme and chemical production to pharmaceuticals and biofuels. Gen9 is powering the synthetic biology revolution from our headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., and can be found online at www.gen9bio.com.
Gen9, GeneBits, GeneBytes and BioFab are trademarks or registered trademarks of Gen9, Inc. All other brands may be trademarks of their respective holders.
