High-Throughput Cell Programming with Software, Automation and Next Generation Sequencing Technologies

Aimable Habimana

NGS Test Engineer

Ginkgo Bioworks

The past decade has witnessed a dramatic fall in the cost of reading and writing DNA. These innovations have enabled researchers to design ,quickly test new genes and apply genetic engineering to a variety of new fields. Ginkgo Bioworks, a biological engineering company in Boston, MA, emerged during this period with the mission of using these rapidly advancing technologies to “make biology easier to engineer”. This presentation will overview the systems Ginkgo has put in place to engineer biology and to answer custom challenges for our customers. We will discuss successful case studies of pathway design in microbes using software and hardware automation, with a particular focus on how Ginkgo’s centralized NGS service exploits using high-throughput library preparation technologies and data analysis pipelines to identify and quantify expression of thousands of desired products. We will also cover how Ginkgo is utilizing foundry capabilities to partner with new customers and explore new markets in agriculture and pharmaceuticals. The talk will close with an appreciation of the people behind the science by touching on the importance of diversity and inclusion in synthetic biology and efforts that Ginkgo is putting in place to improve in this area.