A new bio-based chemical can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and over a decade to develop and bring to market using traditional bioengineering approaches. Newly developed synthetic biology tools offer the potential to dramatically reduce that time and cost through the establishment and automation of a robust framework for biomanufacturing. Despite this promise, application of these tools has been limited due to high barriers to entry in the market including expensive equipment, compartmentalized knowledge, and sparse publically-available demonstration of these tools beyond the model organisms S. cerevisiae and E. coli. The Agile BioFoundry, a Department of Energy-funded National Laboratory consortium, aims to overcome these challenges and provide the foundation for a robust 21st-century biomanufacturing sector which can bring new bioproducts to market at half the present time and cost. This will be accomplished through demonstration of a robust Design-Build-Test-Learn cycle on non-model host organisms, readily licensable toolkits, and industry partnerships which allow the private sector to access the world-class capabilities at the National Laboratories. This presentation will highlight recent accomplishments from the newly-formed Agile BioFoundry and the envisioned future directions for industry engagement.

Agile BioFoundry: Applying synthetic biology tools to biomanufacturing using lignocellulosic feedstocks

254th National Meeting (2017)

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