by Dan Gibson, PhD, CTO at Codex DNA
Scientists will soon have the opportunity to participate in the decentralization of one of the most important processes for life science research and the discovery and development of therapies, diagnostics, and vaccines — gene synthesis.
While the capability of synthesizing DNA and RNA is universally recognized as essential in the research community, there has been considerably less consensus about who should own it. Decades ago, DNA synthesis was performed by scientists in their own labs. The process was painstaking, error-prone, and risky due to the need for toxic chemicals. When service providers emerged and offered to relieve labs of this onerous task, scientists were glad to embrace outsourcing.
For years, outsourcing has been standard practice for nearly all DNA synthesis needs. But this arrangement came at a price: long turnaround times that may extend to weeks or months, as well as high costs for higher-quality products. Despite the recent era of incredible innovation in genomic technologies, customers of these service providers have seen lag times and costs remain stubbornly fixed.
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