New virtual lab launched in UK to aid synthetic biology industry

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Measurement Institute (NMI) and SynbiCITE at Imperial College London have announced the launch of a new £7 million virtual lab to establish the UK Centre for Engineering Biology, Metrology and Standards.

This new centre being established in partnership with LGC and NIBSC, will help the UK synthetic biology industry and improve the manufacturing and adoption of new products. Through developing and providing relevant reference materials and methods in the form of a toolbox, the new lab aims to improve the reproducibility of research results that will help convert innovation in synthetic biology into valuable products and services.

The lab is part of £17 million of new government funding announced by the chancellor of the Exchequer two weeks ago to help translate the UK’s scientific expertise into real life treatments, and will focus on accelerating the application of synthetic biology in life sciences.

Synthetic biology incorporates a variety of concepts, capabilities and technologies that all need to be validated before they can be commercialised. Additionally, when attempting to scale-up the production of a synthetic biology product, many variables must first be considered and all of these need to be referenced against standards to ensure consistency of the product and confidence in the ability to measure and evaluate key performance parameters.

By establishing industry-led measurements and standards, the quality and safety of products will be assured and, therefore, company competitiveness can be maintained. This innovation hub will further engage with industry to help transform high-value manufacturing into high-value products that will deliver economic and societal benefits. Applications that will benefit most include advanced therapies such as gene, cell and regenerative therapies, as well as the discovery and manufacture of new antibiotics.

Each institute involved in this collaborative project will provide its own expertise: NPL will provide the framework, facilities and expertise to enable measurements at the molecular, cellular and sub-cellular levels to be reproduced with confidence; LGC and NIBSC will provide specialist expertise in biological standardisation, in the form of genomic and bioactivity measurements, respectively.

“A key point in the government’s life sciences industrial strategy, launched in August, is the need for the development and quick adoption of innovative drugs and therapies. Synthetic biology offers great opportunities here but requires underpinning measurement to ensure that new products are realised and can be commercialised more quickly,” explained Dr Michael Adeogun, Head of Life Sciences and Health at NPL. “Much as good measurement is vital to ensuring fair exchange of physical goods, it is also integral to establishing the same trusted exchange of knowledge, and therefore is an important factor in accelerating access to new innovations. NPL is delighted to announce the first phase of establishing the UK Centre for Engineering Biology, Metrology and Standards, to achieve this.”

Professor Paul Freemont and Professor Richard Kitney, Co-Directors of SynbiCITE at Imperial College, added: “The new centre is part of a wider collaboration with the NPL, LGC and NIBSC in Engineering Biology, Metrology and Standards. Synthetic Biology/Engineering Biology has, since 2013, been recognised by the government as a key area for economic growth — for example as an important driver of the bioeconomy. We view the development of new metrology and standards for the field as being essential for effective industrial translation — through accurate reproducibility, coupled to high levels of reliability. The partnership with NPL (including LGC and NIBSC) is seen as being an essential step in this process.”