NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Oxford Genetics announced today that it has received a £1.6 million ($2 million) grant from the UK government to fund development of new computational and synthetic biology-based approaches for mammalian bioproduction.
The grant was made through Innovate UK and will specifically support a collaboration between Oxford Genetics and researchers at the University of Oxford focused on using statistical methods to engineer synthetic genetic constructs for expression of multi-component systems. The collaborators are also researching ways to optimize the cellular environment to better support biosynthetic processes, including proof-of-concept process development for scaled-up production.
"This grant means we can expedite research across our platform technologies, while demonstrating their full capabilities for enabling synthetic biology and bioproduction," Oxford Genetics CEO Ryan Cawood said in a statement.
"The application of complex statistical approaches to improve the understanding of biological processes, and enable predictive engineering of biological systems, is gathering significant pace," University of Oxford researcher Zubin Siganporia added. "We are excited to be working with the team at Oxford Genetics to explore these innovative technologies."