Constructive Bio is a spin-out from the prestigious MRC-LMB lab of Jason Chin based at the University of Cambridge. The Company is pioneering whole genome synthesis and genetic code expansion to create improved therapies and sustainable manufacturing routes to functional biomolecules.

The Company’s ground-breaking technology allows for the design, synthesis and assembly of very large segments of DNA recently exemplified by the construction of a completely synthetic E. coli genome. This strain, called Syn61, has genome-wide reassignment of three codons which means that the highly precise and programmable protein translation machinery can be used to bring in new chemical functionalities to build novel biomolecules that were previously unimaginable in biological systems.

Genetic code expansion also means that Syn61 is resistant to phage infection and to horizontal gene transfer making it particularly suited to industrial biomanufacturing and for environmental applications such as crop care.