BOSTON, March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo Bioworks
(NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell
programming and biosecurity, today announced that it has been
awarded a contract for up to $6
million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) to achieve DARPA's objectives under its new Ice Control for
cold Environments (ICE) program.
DARPA's ICE program aims to develop new materials that control
the physical properties of ice crystals to facilitate operations in
extreme cold weather environments, which can pose a variety of
risks to both personnel health and critical equipment. To meet this
goal, Ginkgo, in collaboration with Netrias, Cambium, and
consultant Dr. Ran Drori, aims to develop novel
biologically-sourced and inspired materials that leverage
biological adaptations to cold environments.
The Ginkgo team will work to enable the sustainable production
of novel de-icing proteins with ice-modulating behaviors to improve
operational efficacy in extreme cold weather environments. These
materials will be designed with the goal of meeting U.S. Department
of Defense specifications and could potentially be used in
solutions with broad commercial applications. One such application
could be a lens coating to prevent frost formation for a range of
optics applications from satellites and high altitude imaging
instruments to security and wildlife cameras. The aviation and
automobile industries could also benefit from de-icing products
that facilitate safe operations in icy conditions. Furthermore, a
topical frostbite prevention product could be developed for outdoor
enthusiasts. If successful, these solutions could impact high value
and consumer markets and facilitate replacement of current
environmentally harmful de-icing agents.
The team plans to leverage Ginkgo Protein Services to design,
screen, and optimize a library of novel proteins that demonstrate
ice-modulating behaviors. Ginkgo will design a library of proteins
using metagenomic discovery and de novo computational design to
source known, naturally occurring ice-modulating behavior proteins.
During the discovery phase, predictive models will be used to
iterate Design–Build–Test–Optimize loops, maximizing discovery of
proteins with ice inhibition, induction, and low-adhesion
properties. Throughout the process, Ginkgo will selectively screen
promising proteins with further high-performance,
application-specific characterization to inform the final down
selection.
Jason Kelly, CEO and
co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks: "We are honored to be
selected by DARPA to work on this program to facilitate sustained
cold weather operations. Building high-throughput libraries of
candidate proteins is possible thanks to Ginkgo's unique and
differentiated data assets. Biology offers us a myriad of ways to
adapt to our environment, and synthetic biology allows us to tap
into nature's capabilities and apply them to our own needs. We look
forward to the products that the ICE program generates, which may
enable enhanced safety and proficiency across various use
cases."
To learn more about Ginkgo Protein Services, please visit
https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/offerings/protein-services/.
If you are interested in working with Ginkgo for the public
sector, check out our Offerings for Governments page.
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo Bioworks is the leading horizontal platform for cell
programming, providing flexible, end-to-end services that solve
challenges for organizations across diverse markets, from food and
agriculture to pharmaceuticals to industrial and specialty
chemicals. Ginkgo's biosecurity and public health unit, Concentric
by Ginkgo, is building global infrastructure for biosecurity to
empower governments, communities, and public health leaders to
prevent, detect and respond to a wide variety of biological
threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com
and concentricbyginkgo.com, read our blog, or follow us
on social media channels such as X (@Ginkgo and @ConcentricByGBW),
Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks), Threads (@GinkgoBioworks)
or LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including
statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the
partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These
forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words
"believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate,"
"estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan,"
"may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will
likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements
are predictions, projections and other statements about future
events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and,
as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors
could cause actual future events to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not
limited to: (i) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due
to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and
highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to
operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes
in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (ii) the
ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other
expectations, and to identify and realize additional business
opportunities, (iii) the risk of downturns in demand for products
using synthetic biology, (iv) the uncertainty regarding the demand
for passive monitoring programs and biosecurity services, (v)
changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements
in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry
demands, standards and regulations, (vi) the outcome of any pending
or potential legal proceedings against Ginkgo, (vii) our ability to
realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry
platform programs, (viii) our ability to successfully develop
engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other
deliverables, and (ix) the product development or commercialization
success of our customers. The foregoing list of factors is not
exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and
the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors"
section of Ginkgo's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 29, 2024 and other documents filed by
Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and
address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual events and results to differ materially from those contained
in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put
undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no
obligation and does not intend to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance
that it will achieve its expectations.
Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations
expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency.
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR
CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA
CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
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