Synthetic biology has a very wide remit and has the potential to drive the advancement of technology in a huge number of areas. This is in part due to recent massive improvements in the SynBio toolkit, but is also due to the number of worldwide problems that are amenable to a biological solution. Many industries now use SynBio methods:

Healthcare and therapeutics – SynBio has been used to develop advanced cell therapies, mRNA vaccines, and biomaterials for medical treatment, it has also been used to produce drug intermediates and excipients more efficiently, and has been used to produce engineered microbial cells and other biosensors with applications in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer.

Future food and drinks  - SynBio approaches are used in areas such as metabolic engineering, precision fermentation, and cellular agriculture for the production of food and drink ingredients – such approaches may produce known products in a more efficient way or could lead to the development of new products such as cultivated meat.

Green tech – renewable energy has been linked to SynBio for a long time and have huge promise, but SynBio has many more applications in the green space, such as bioplastic production, environmental disease control, and the production of engineered microbes for heavy metal remediation, plastic recycling, pollution detection, and carbon capture.

Additionally, specific areas of science and technology also utilise SynBio approaches, and these technology areas are readily used in the above-mentioned industries:

Synthetic Biology has contributed to some incredible breakthroughs in recent years. Without SynBio, we wouldn’t have mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, lab-grown meat could not have been approved for sale, and many advanced cell therapies could not be used for the treatment of cancers. It is so important that the researchers and companies in these areas are able to shout about their successes – the world needs to learn about the fantastic promise of the area.   

However, to be able to discuss their technology with confidence, inventions must be protected based on a robust IP strategy. It is essential that the IP strategy is individually tailored, enforceable, and commercially focussed.  

This is especially true for small companies and new ventures in the competitive SynBio space. Prospective investors and partners are very keen to know that the technology has been properly protected. Decisions on whether to invest, the scale of investment, and terms of the agreement, are often based on the strength of the IP.  

We look forward to being able to work with both current and future clients to help mould their IP strategies and protect their inventions in a way that aligns with their commercial goals. We can’t wait to see how their SynBio innovations shape the world of the future.