Synthetic Genomics, Inc. Announces Agreement with New England Biolabs
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Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI), and New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB), jointly announced that they have entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement whereby NEB will commercialize the Gibson Assembly(TM) Master Mix. This product is based on the Gibson Assembly(TM) method which was developed by Daniel Gibson, Ph.D., and colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) as part of a program sponsored by SGI. The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Gibson Assembly uses a one-step, isothermal approach to enable the rapid assembly of multiple DNA fragments. Since its introduction to the life science community in 2009, the Gibson Assembly method has become a mainstay in many synthetic biology laboratories and has attracted interest from both the academic and commercial life sciences community due to its ease-of-use, robustness and flexibility.
The Gibson Assembly Master Mix includes protocols for primer design, and can be used for assembly of multiple DNA fragments, including linearized vector and insert. NEB's Gibson Assembly(TM) Master Mix can be used by researchers to assemble such synthetic nucleic acids into larger genetic constructs. The Gibson Assembly Master Mix is available for order through the NEB website ( www.neb.com ).
SGI also recently signed an agreement with Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) to manufacture, market, and commercialize custom synthetic double-stranded nucleic acids of lengths up to 5 kb using SGI's proprietary technologies.
"The Gibson Assembly method is a powerful tool that we believe will enable synthetic biology researchers to make rapid advances leading to new discoveries and products," said J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, SGI. "SGI is pleased to work with industry leader NEB in commercializing this product."
"New England Biolabs is delighted to work with SGI to introduce Gibson Assembly to our customers. As a leader in the discovery and development of cloning tools and technologies, NEB has embraced this approach for building DNA constructs, and believes that it will open new opportunities for the manipulation of complex DNAs," states Richard J. Roberts, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, NEB.
In May 2010 J. Craig Venter Institute researchers announced the successful construction of the first self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell, work that took years to complete and was enabled only through development of new tools and technologies. One such tool was Gibson Assembly. SGI sponsored this work at JCVI and controls the licensing of the technologies.
