Syngenta Crop Protection, a leader in agricultural innovation, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), known for its pioneering platform in cell programming and biosecurity, have announced a new partnership to accelerate the development and launch of a novel biological solution. This collaboration builds on their previous work together on next-generation seed technology.

The partnership will see Ginkgo develop and optimize a microbial strain capable of producing a secondary metabolite from Syngenta's biologicals pipeline. This metabolite is identified by Syngenta as a key component in a new biological solution, which could significantly advance sustainable agricultural practices. Achieving cost-effective and large-scale production of this metabolite would allow Syngenta to expedite its market introduction.

Ginkgo will leverage its expertise in Ag Biologicals to calculate theoretical performance metrics and guide strain engineering strategies. Utilizing advanced biological knowledge and machine learning, Ginkgo aims to diagnose performance limitations and uncover biological features to meet Syngenta’s productivity goals.

“Biologicals are increasingly important in addressing the need for efficient and sustainable agricultural solutions worldwide. At Syngenta, we are committed to providing farmers with greater complementary product and technology choices that promote sustainable agricultural practices,” said Camilla Corsi, Global Head of Research at Syngenta Crop Protection. “We are excited to work with Ginkgo, and are confident that their distinctive capabilities will enable us to achieve our productivity goals for our targeted molecule, expediting our time to market.”

Magalie Guilhabert, Head of Ag Biologicals at Ginkgo Bioworks, said: “We are so excited to expand our relationship with Syngenta. We’ve built a successful relationship from our work together on plant traits and now look forward to doing the same with ag biologicals. Ginkgo is proud to put our excellent assets and experience against some of our customer’s toughest challenges. We’ll work to achieve productivity levels to realize commercial viability for Syngenta’s innovative ag biologicals product launch.”

This partnership marks a significant step forward in the development of sustainable agricultural solutions, combining Syngenta's innovation in crop protection with Ginkgo's cutting-edge capabilities in biological engineering.

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