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Call for Entries Announced in Annual Gen9 Contest Recognizing Innovative Use of Synthetic Biology
[November 14, 2014]

Call for Entries Announced in Annual Gen9 Contest Recognizing Innovative Use of Synthetic Biology


CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --(Business Wire)--

Gen9, Inc., a pioneer in the development of scalable technologies for synthesizing and assembling DNA, today announced that it is now accepting entries for the annual G-Prize contest. For the first time, the G-Prize contest is also open to pre-commercial start-up companies. The G-Prize contest, conceived and exclusively-sponsored by Gen9, was launched in 2011 to reward innovators and disruptors who are utilizing DNA to transform industries such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, biofuels, and biomaterials. The deadline for submission is December 31, 2014.

"Synthetic biology is transforming the way the scientific community is addressing many of the world's toughest challenges, from developing faster and more effective medicines to improving our food supply," said Joseph Jacobson, Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT (News - Alert)) and co-founder of Gen9. "The idea behind the G-Prize is to provide an opportunity for scientists at academic institutions and young companies to explore some of the most exciting, large impact, new ideas that they might not otherwise have the ability to pursue, and to be able to do so at scale."

Gen9 has developed unique, next-generation technologies for synthesizing and assembling DNA constructs for use in numerous applications, including antibody, peptide and enzyme engineering; gene and pathway buildin; and genome construction. The company's proprietary BioFab® platform enables the production of high-quality synthetic DNA constructs at an unprecedented scale.



"Kicking off the G-Prize is always an exciting time of year for the Gen9 team. It is a privilege to be enabling some of the most innovative and disruptive scientific advancements taking place today," said Kevin Munnelly, President and CEO of Gen9. "We are especially pleased to invite startups to enter the G-Prize contest for the first time. These companies are leading a new industrial revolution, powered by DNA, and we are eager to support their cutting-edge work."

The G-Prize contest is open to scientists working in academic or public-benefit organizations and pre-commercial start-up companies only. A panel of experts selected by Gen9 will independently judge all entries in the academic/public-benefit track and the start-up track. The winning entrant for each track will be presented with a G-prize award of 500,000 base pairs of synthesized DNA. With a total of 1 million base pairs of synthetic DNA, the G-Prize awards represent a total market value exceeding $500,000, based on the current average market cost of DNA constructs.


Deadline for entries is December 31, 2014. For more information and access to the online entry form, please visit www.gen9bio.com/g-prize.

About Gen9

Gen9 is the premier next-generation gene synthesis company focused on high-quality, high-throughput, automated production of DNA constructs. The Gen9 technology allows for the lowest-cost and highest-quality DNA constructs commercially available. Founded by world leaders in synthetic biology, Gen9 aims to ensure the constructive application of synthetic biology in industries ranging from enzyme and chemical production to pharmaceuticals and biofuels. Gen9 is powering the synthetic biology revolution from our headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Visit Gen9 at www.gen9bio.com.

Gen9, GeneBit, GeneByte and BioFab are trademarks or registered trademarks of Gen9, Inc. All other brands may be trademarks of their respective holders.


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