A Cambridge-based Constructive Bio company has recently launched as a biotechnology company that will create synthetic genomes from scratch.
The technology will be able to be utilized for commercial applications across various industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, and materials. Novel polymers are also being designed with the ability to break down and recycle the monomers to support a circular, sustainable economy. This is a massive and critical move that could transform the US$750bn global polymers market while also helping the planet.
Polymers can be found in anything ranging from food packaging to cell phones to plastic bottles to car parts.
The company has completed a US$15 million seed round and has also been granted an exclusive license from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to IP developed by The Chin Lab at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC-LMB).
“Over the last 20 years, we have created a cellular factory that we can reliably and predictably program to create new polymers,” says Professor Jason Chin, Programme Leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Chief Scientific Officer of Constructive Bio.
“The range of applications for this technology is vast – using our approach, we have already been able to program cells to make new molecules including from an important class of drugs and to program cells to make completely synthetic polymers containing the chemical linkages found in biodegradable plastics. Now is the right time to commercialize these technologies. By taking inspiration from nature and reimagining what life can become, we have the opportunity to build the sustainable industries of the future” says Professor Jason Chin.
