Leveraging Ginkgo's plant-cell assay and
engineering capabilities to aid Light Bio in optimizing the
performance of its light-emitting plants
KETCHUM, Idaho and
BOSTON, April 14,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Light Bio, Inc., a company that
is creating bioluminescent plants for home and garden, and Ginkgo
Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), the leading horizontal platform for cell
programming, today announced a collaboration to leverage Ginkgo's
plant cell assays for bioluminescence engineering. Through the
agreement, Ginkgo aims to help improve the luminescent output and
efficiency of the enzymes within Light Bio's glowing ornamental
plants.
The scientists at Light Bio have discovered a new type of
bioluminescence mechanism and are using synthetic biology to
engineer plants to efficiently emit light. The original light
emission pathway Light Bio uses in its glowing plants comes from
bioluminescent mushrooms, and the company is now focused on
expanding its engineering capabilities to support the creation of
glowing plants.
"We are excited to collaborate with Ginkgo toward additional
multifold output and efficiency improvements powered by Ginkgo's
plant cell engineering capabilities across both individual enzyme
and metabolic pathway improvements," said Keith Wood, CEO, Light Bio. "Light Bio has
already achieved strong light emission results on our glowing plant
luminescence to date."
"Nothing captures the wonder of biology quite like seeing
glowing plants in person," said Jason
Kelly, CEO, Ginkgo Bioworks. "Our platform enables
developers to imagine with biology and to design all types of
cells, from bacteria and yeast to mammalian and plant cells. We're
so excited to bring this unique application onto our platform and
to help Light Bio bring the magic of glowing plants to people."
About Light Bio
Light Bio creates novel biodesigns in
living light. Through consumer-led applications of synthetic
biology, Light Bio is opening new markets with products that have
never existed before. Led by a team with deep experience in the
development and commercialization of bioluminescence products, the
company is sustained by its proprietary technologies backed by a
strong patent portfolio. More information can be found at
www.light-bio.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 and objectives
of the partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These
forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words
"believe," "can," "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 press release, including but not
limited to: (i) the effect of Ginkgo's 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
operates and 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, (vi) the risk of downturns in demand
for products using synthetic biology, (vii) the unpredictability of
the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for COVID-19
testing and the commercial viability of our COVID-19 testing
business, and (viii) changes to the biosecurity
industry, including due to advancements in technology,
emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards
and regulations. 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 annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March
29, 2022 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.
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR
CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA
CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
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