It’s been a big week for synthetic biology and there were 4 major announcements at SynBioBeta London last week:1) Twist Bioscience (@TwistBioscience) launched a new alpha access program for their synthetic DNA:The long awaited launch of the early adopter program will see sequences up to 1.8 kb, delivered in 20 business days or less. Twist’s technology is a 10,000-well silicon-based chip platform. “Delivery of our initial products marks a significant milestone for the organization,” said Emily Leproust Ph.D., CEO of Twist Bioscience who gave the keynote address last week. Read more here!2) Gen9 (@Gen9Bio) reinvented the design and ordering of its DNA powered by Benchling:Massachusetts based Gen9 launched its new on-line editing and ordering portal through a partnership with Benchling, a startup from San Francisco that came out of iGEM. Both companies stand to benefit from the deal as Gen9 is able to utilize an outstanding platform and Benchling increases its market share and reach new users.The platform comes with a drag-and-drop sequence upload feature, cloud data storage, as well as shipment and order tracking. “Gen9 has already changed the game in gene synthesis with our high-throughput BioFab platform. With the launch of this portal, we’re reinventing the design and ordering process for DNA,” said Kevin Munnelly, President and CEO of Gen9. Read more here!3) Desktop Genetics (@DesktopGenetics) announced their new Gene Editing platform:UK based synthetic biology startup Desktop Genetics already has a software tool for CRISPR gene editing (gUIDEbook) and cloning (AutoClone). However, the new platform launched at SynBioBeta London has two modules: one for experimental design, and a second to manage DNA inventories, parts lists and feature annotations. It then matches up the DNA present in in your freezer with the designs you need to make the new constructs.Riley Doyle, CEO says the platform will be widely used by many in the industry saying that ”current software tools are limited in their scope”, “Biologists have been waiting for decades for a tool that enables them to generate the cell lines they need to further their in-house research. Now that CRISPR has arrived on the scene, that wetware tool is here, and there is tremendous enthusiasm to use it correctly” he says. Read more here!4) Glowing Plant (@glowingplant) announced TAXA, a cloud platform for engineering plants:Antony Evans, CEO announced the new service saying “We’re more than just a glowing plant product, we’re a platform technology for many different apps”. The new platform hopes to speed up the time to market for novel engineered plants and allows the engineering of pathways up to ten genes long. Read more here!

Edward Perello and Leigh Brody of Desktop Genetics talk to people about the company’s platform at the SynbiCITE Technology Showcase.