Twist Bioscience: Unlocking the Power of DNA Synthesis with Strategic Microsoft Partnership and Advanced Silicon-Based Platform
On October 20, 2016, the “Puhua Healthcare Hi Conference,” organized by Puhua Capital and Puhua Medical Investment, and co-hosted by Zhejiang University Zijing Makers Town, Jingxin Pharmaceutical, and CTIC Capital, was successfully held in Hangzhou. Leaders, experts, entrepreneurs, and investors from various regions gathered to discuss collaborative synergies among industry, research, clinical practice, and investment within the healthcare sector.
The project lead from Twist Bioscience delivered a pitch at the 2016 PwC Healthcare Hi Conference. Below are the highlights curated by VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat).
Twist Bioscience, headquartered in San Francisco, United States, currently employs 150 people and operates an independent research facility. The company has developed a transformative platform for synthesizing DNA on silicon chips and has secured substantial financing. Twist Bioscience is committed to delivering personalized products and experiences that are competitively positioned in terms of volume, cost, and quality.
DNA synthesis is a highly promising technology, currently primarily applied in three fields: chemistry, genetic engineering, and healthcare.
It is well known that alcohol can be produced using yeast and sugar, while Twist Bioscience synthesizes yeast with specialized DNA on silicon chips, enabling the fermentation of sugar into a broader range of chemical products, such as those used in plastic bottles.
In addition, DNA synthesis technology is also widely utilized in genetic engineering to enhance crop yield or improve taste by modifying plant genes.
Of course, the greater significance of this technology lies in its applications in the medical field. For instance, DNA synthesis technology is being used to develop new drugs, vaccines, and other antibodies. The widely used hepatitis B vaccine, for example, is produced using recombinant DNA yeast. Undoubtedly, this has profound implications for human health.
The market potential for synthetic DNA is enormous, with two primary types of users: buyers and manufacturers. Buyers obtain synthetic DNA directly through purchase. However, manufacturers tend to favor cloning, as the cost of synthetic DNA remains prohibitively high. Twist Bioscience aims to advance this process to optimize the market.
Twist Bioscience possesses mature technology and a team comprising chemists and genetic engineers, many of whom are scientists hailing from renowned U.S. genetic engineering companies. Furthermore, Twist Bioscience has established its own engineering philosophy and rigorous design and testing standards. This process necessitates continuous testing and planning. Although the cycle is exceptionally long, Twist Bioscience has the capability to overcome bottlenecks.
Even before its inception, Twist Bioscience was acutely aware of these bottlenecks: improvements to the equipment were essential. This equipment, known as a 96-well plate, serves as the platform for gene synthesis. Gene synthesis involves highly complex reagents and procedures, requiring the integration of all components within the 96-well plate. Made of plastic, these plates generate significant friction, thereby complicating the synthesis process. Through dedicated efforts, Twist Bioscience replaced the plastic plates with silicon-based plates, effectively reducing friction during synthesis.
Since the first half of this year, Twist Bioscience has embarked on its commercialization journey. Although there are many competitors in the market, Twist Bioscience’s products still maintain a competitive edge with high production efficiency and, most importantly, a price advantage—costing only one-third of similar products.
Currently, the gene synthesis market is valued at approximately $25 million. Twist Bioscience boasts the largest customer base among its peers, including 24 corporate clients and thousands of retail customers in the market, a figure that continues to rise.
To further adapt to market competition, Twist Bioscience will produce 20,000 genes by December this year, with a projected output of 70,000 genes in 2017. As a production-driven company, Twist Bioscience continues to expand its production capacity.
Gene editing is a hot technological field at present, and Twist Bioscience has made revolutionary advances in the application of CRISPR technology. A gene is a molecule, and it is very difficult to edit this molecule, but Twist Bioscience's technology can perform millions of operations.
Another application is data storage. There are many methods for storing data, such as hard drives, optical discs, and flash drives. However, none of these storage media can achieve permanent data preservation. Twist Bioscience has achieved this goal through DNA. DNA inherently carries various types of data, which are stored using gene sequences and remain viable indefinitely.
Twist Bioscience’s approach to data storage is remarkably straightforward. While current digital technologies rely on binary code, DNA encoding utilizes a quaternary system that stores data using four nucleotide bases. With DNA encoding, data can be preserved for thousands of years. Moreover, Twist Bioscience achieves exceptionally high storage density, enabling vast amounts of data to be encoded into DNA sequences—far exceeding the capacity of traditional storage media. This technology has attracted Microsoft’s attention, leading to a strategic partnership in which Microsoft ordered 10 million synthetic DNA strands.
Twist Bioscience has attracted a diverse group of investors, including leading biotechnology venture capital funds, the largest foundations in the United States, high-tech capital firms, and even a venture capital company based in Wuxi, China. When Twist Bioscience was founded in April 2013, it took six months to secure co-investment funds, and initial market sentiment was lukewarm. However, this is no longer a concern. There is strong belief that DNA synthesis technology holds significant application potential and market opportunities in the field of genetics. Twist Bioscience’s technology not only helps clients accelerate their research progress but also positions the company with confidence to become a leader in genetic technologies.