Synthetic biology combines principles from biology, engineering, and other disciplines to design or redesign biological systems. It also enables the creation of new functions or the improvement of existing ones for practical and predictable use. The field has seen substantial development in recent years and is now delivering real-world solutions. This article highlights recent advances in synthetic biology by examining the challenges and solutions addressed by three innovators who are making meaningful progress.
Solving Problems with Designed Biology
Yourgene Health
Traditional gene synthesis involves building a DNA construct using time-consuming bench techniques, cloning it into bacteria, growing colonies, and manually screening them to find the correct sequence. Joanne Cross, Director, Yourgene Health, explained that errors and impurities can enter the process at multiple points, which reduces the chances of isolating the correct construct. In addition, off-targets are generated far more frequently than the intended products, often resulting in success rates below 10% for complex reactions.
To solve this problem, Yourgene developed their Ranger® Technology, an automated high-throughput size selection platform that drastically improves purity by isolating desired DNA fragments based on size. This innovation increases success rates up to 90% while minimizing the time and labor required to identify correct sequences. “Size selection is about enriching and purifying, in other words, getting rid of the DNA fragments that you don’t want and keeping the constructs of interest by differentiating based on size,” said Cross. For labs working with high-complexity designs, this improved efficiency can significantly accelerate development timelines.
Cross shared that one early adopter of Ranger Technology is using it to reduce delivery times for complex DNA constructs, helping pharmaceutical partners test more drug candidates. Another adopter, a company specializing in the manufacture of intricate sequences, is using Ranger Technology’s size selection service. Yourgene supports their efforts by ensuring sample purity at each step of the workflow, a key factor in successfully producing large, technically demanding builds.
Generating larger sequences holds strong economic value for pharmaceutical and vaccine companies, as the industry moves toward scalable, fast-turnaround solutions for complex DNA. “Ranger Technology can be used to help clear that hurdle because it’s able to clean up a lot of those reactions that end up being heavily polluted with truncated or concatenated products that are concomitant with the target product,” stated Cross. The platform also reduces sequencing and other costs tied to identifying the correct construct, with customers across the adoption curve seeing the value of size selection.
Twist Bioscience
Twist Bioscience supports synthetic biology by producing custom synthetic DNA, RNA, and proteins. These products enable researchers to conduct experiments more efficiently and at a greater scale. CEO Emily Leproust explained that Twist plays a key role in the “build” phase of the design-build-test-learn research cycle. The company manufactures sequences designed by customers, whether naturally occurring or created de novo. As artificial intelligence changes how scientists approach design, Twist helps bridge the gap between digital sequence generation and physical testing by delivering high-quality DNA quickly and cost-effectively.
The company’s platform is based on miniaturizing DNA synthesis chemistry onto a silicon chip. This innovation combines precision chemistry with semiconductor technology to increase the throughput and accuracy of DNA manufacturing. After developing this platform, Twist focused its first commercial launch on gene manufacturing, reducing the burden on researchers by providing ready-to-use DNA. “We want researchers to spend their time conducting their critical experiments, not cloning DNA,” stated Leproust.
In 2018, Twist expanded into next-generation sequencing (NGS) tools by offering more uniform probes and enzymes. Leproust noted that customers now use these tools in applications such as cancer detection, liquid biopsy, minimal residual disease testing, and agricultural trait selection.
What sets Twist apart, Leproust explained, is the company’s unique ability to perform DNA synthesis at the picoliter scale using silicon chips. Unlike conventional 96-well plate methods, which are limited in throughput, Twist can synthesize a million oligos in a single run and customize sequences for multiple clients at once. This level of scale and flexibility distinguishes Twist’s technology within the synthetic biology space.
Ginkgo Bioworks
John Androsavich, General Manager of Ginkgo Datapoints, believes that synthetic biology is a discipline still constrained by limited predictive tools. “It’s a large, multidimensional puzzle,” he explained, where assembling biological components, like amino acids or genetic elements, rarely guarantees predictable outcomes. The main challenge is not limited to making new biological systems, but understanding how to design them efficiently. Androsavich noted that Ginkgo tackles this complexity through a two-pronged solution involving scaled empirical testing and iterative evaluation, followed by machine learning to create more efficient and powerful biological designs.
Because the field is still in the phase where extensive experimental testing is needed, this is often too much work to be done by hand and requires automation. Androsavich noted that his group collects the data and relies on computers to analyze everything, with recent advances in AI opening new opportunities to increase advancements. “We’ve invested heavily in both lab automation and AI and are fully committed to leveraging and further advancing these breakthrough tools that enable biology to scale,” Androsavich emphasized.
Ginkgo has maintained a leading edge in AI and automation, which Androsavich attributes to the company's focus on practical application. One innovation is the modular RACs automation system, which offers rapid reconfiguration to meet the demands of biological research and is now available for customer installation. The company’s AI team has also developed protein language models like AA0, comparable to ESM2, and accessible to anyone via API. Through the Datapoints business, which Androsavich manages, Ginkgo provides their synthetic biology tools to researchers using a simple fee-for-service model, a rare approach in biopharma for advanced, non-commoditized technologies.
Breakthroughs and Milestones
Recent innovations in synthetic biology, as demonstrated by these organizations, show how these advances are solving real-world challenges while propelling the field forward.
Ginkgo now performs drug developability assessments across entire discovery libraries, and not just lead candidates. This breakthrough moves a traditionally late-stage, costly process to the early phases, making it faster and more affordable. It also improves lead selection and AI training by capturing insights from less promising molecules. A recent preprint highlights their work on therapeutic antibodies, with plans to extend the approach to other drug types. Androsavich also sees promise in a leaner, faster era for U.S. biotech. Despite the current economic challenges, he believes these difficulties encourage more strategic use of capital. “In the next era, I think we’ll see more centralized infrastructure and faster turnaround of scientific ideas, and hopefully faster progress,” he said.
While Ginkgo focuses on early-stage drug development, Twist Bioscience is delivering rapid, reliable gene synthesis at scale with Twist Express Genes. “What’s critical with this offering isn’t just the rapid turnaround time, but also the scale,” stated Leproust. These genes can be shipped in as few as four days, whether customers order one or ten thousand. Along with these developments, Twist is also advancing faster, longer gene synthesis, engineering proprietary enzymes, and improving sensitivity and efficiency across liquid biopsy, NGS, and population genomics workflows.
Meanwhile, Yourgene Health is responding to rising demand for longer DNA constructs in vaccines, therapeutics, and even data storage. Ranger Technology meets this need by applying machine vision and electrophoresis to isolate full-length products. This approach reduces truncation noise and supports precise, scalable gene synthesis at various volumes. Cross also noted that collaborators have started using Ranger Technology for CRISPR applications, including the GUIDE-Seq workflow to detect off-target effects. “I’m really looking forward to seeing more use cases in this field and showcasing the value that Ranger Technology and size selection can bring to different gene synthesis and gene editing workflows," said Cross.
Looking Ahead
Although no one can predict exactly where synthetic biology is headed, experts agree that its potential is far from realized. “There are just about endless possibilities for what can be done with synthetic DNA,” stated Leproust. She expects demand to continue rising, especially as AI accelerates drug discovery. Additionally, Twist’s ability to synthesize complete antibody chains in a single step is helping researchers iterate faster without compromising on biosecurity. This rapid prototyping is essential in a field where speed can mean the difference between a breakthrough and a bottleneck.
Cross shared a larger view, envisioning synthetic biology as a foundational technology with the power to transform sectors such as agriculture and energy. “I think we will see huge improvements with the increased uptake of artificial intelligence, which will likely supercharge synthetic biology,” she said.
Finally, Androsavich agreed on the role of AI but suggested a more targeted approach. He expects generative AI to become a practical, everyday tool in biology, though not through one universal model. “The path to get there will be through task-specific or domain-specific training,” concluded Androsavich.