Enzymatic DNA synthesis gets a significant new player

Abstract

The synthetic DNA maker Twist Bioscience announced at the J.P. Morgan Health Care Conference earlier this month that it is developing enzymatic DNA synthesis technology. The revelation—by a major player in chemical DNA synthesis—offers validation that the new technology is here to stay. “It doesn’t matter if chemical synthesis is better or enzymatic synthesis is better,” Twist CEO Emily Leproust said at the conference. “We have it, and we can continue to dominate the DNA synthesis market.” Twist shook up DNA synthesis about 7 years ago, when it introduced a method of conducting phosphoramidite chemistry on silicon chips rather than in traditional well plates. More recently, a group of start-ups has been trying to improve on the decades-old chemical process by using enzymes to make DNA. Those technologies are still in the earliest stages of commercialization. Companies working on synthetic biology, gene sequencing, pharmaceuticals, and next-generation data storage all need