The companies seek to leverage cell programming to produce
betalain pigments across the full yellow-to-purple spectrum
YOKNEAM ILLIT, Israel,
Feb. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --
Phytolon, a growing startup company making natural food colorants,
announced a partnership today with Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), the
leading horizontal platform for cell programming, to produce
vibrant cultured food colors via fermentation of yeast. Under this
partnership, Phytolon is leveraging Ginkgo's ability to engineer
biology at scale to work together on the production of vibrant
betalain pigments, the healthy and colorful compounds found in
foods like beets and cactus fruit. The project aims to take
Phytolon's colors across the full 'yellow-to-purple' spectrum to
the next level, and to potentially maximize the business
opportunity of Phytolon's vibrant colors for applications in the
food and cosmetics industries.
Scientists have developed hundreds of artificial food dyes by
using the tools of synthetic chemistry to convert petrochemical
sources into a wide range of colors. Biotechnology offers an
opportunity to tap into the vibrant colors of biology to produce
more sustainable, yet equally vibrant, colors. While artificial
dyes are visually appealing and cheap to manufacture, many have
been banned in food and feed due to health concerns. As consumers
increasingly seek out more sustainable and nature-derived products,
the food industry is working to find food colors that have
equivalent pigment vibrancy to those found in synthetic chemical
dyes but which come from biological rather than petrochemical
sources.
Phytolon has developed a proprietary process for producing
betalain pigments through precision fermentation of certain yeast
strains. Together, Phytolon and Ginkgo are partnering with the goal
of maximizing the production efficiency of purple and yellow
betalain-producing strains.
"We're excited to work with Ginkgo to develop natural food
colors that can potentially outperform conventional artificial dyes
in cost and performance," says Dr. Tal
Zeltzer, Co-founder and CTO of Phytolon. "We believe
biotechnology makes it possible to produce a wider range of colors
than ever before that may outperform current benchmark colorants,
and we look forward to building products that may meet and even
exceed consumer expectations for healthier, sustainable foods, all
while aiming to maintain industry requirements for high quality and
cost-efficiency."
"We love enabling growing startups like Phytolon through our
platform, using biotechnology to challenge industry norms and
attempt to build a fundamentally better product than what's on the
market today," said Jennifer Wipf,
Head of Commercial, Cell Engineering at Ginkgo Bioworks. "The
planet needs new sustainable solutions, and we are excited to
partner with Phytolon to support a more sustainable food
system."
About Phytolon
Phytolon is a biotechnology startup company that is taking
food coloring to the next level by leveraging a novel technology
for production of natural pigments via precision fermentation of
yeast. Phytolon's products have been successfully validated by
global leaders in the food industry, and Phyloton expects to enter
into commercialization agreements with initial strategic partners
in the near term. Phytolon is supported by partners such as The
Trendlines Group (SGX: 42T) (OTCQX: TRNLY), Millennium Foodtech,
EIT-Food, Consensus Business Group, Arkin Holdings and others.
For more information, visit www.phytolon.com
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo is building a platform to enable customers to program
cells as easily as we can program computers. The company's platform
is enabling biotechnology applications across diverse markets, from
food and agriculture to industrial chemicals to pharmaceuticals.
Ginkgo has also actively supported a number of COVID-19 response
efforts, including K-12 pooled testing, vaccine manufacturing
optimization and therapeutics discovery. For more information,
visit www.ginkgobioworks.com.
Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including
statements regarding the potential success of the partnership, the
commercialization of Phyloton products and anticipated timing, and
Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These forward-looking
statements generally are identified by the words "believe,"
"project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate,"
"intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may,"
"should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely
result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are
predictions, projections and other statements about future events
that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a
result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could
cause actual future events to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements in this document, including but not
limited to: (i) the effect of the business combination with Soaring
Eagle Acquisition Corp. ("Soaring Eagle") on Ginkgo's business
relationships, performance, and business generally, (ii) risks that
the business combination disrupts current plans of Ginkgo and
potential difficulties in Ginkgo's employee retention, (iii) the
outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against
Ginkgo related to its business combination with Soaring Eagle, (iv)
volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities now that it is a
public company due to a variety of factors, including changes in
the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo
plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors,
changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business and
changes in the combined capital structure, (v) the ability to
implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after
the completion of the business combination, and identify and
realize additional opportunities, and (vi) the risk of downturns in
demand for products using synthetic biology. The foregoing list of
factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the
foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described
in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's quarterly report on Form
10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC") on November 15, 2021 and other
documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These
filings identify and address other important risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ
materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made.
Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking
statements, and Ginkgo assumes no obligation and does not intend to
update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does
not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.
PHYTOLON MEDIA CONTACT:
shir@phytolon.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA
CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
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SOURCE Phytolon; Ginkgo Bioworks