Machines to create building blocks of life in Scots foundry
● University hosts ground-breaking new centre which will lead the world in the automated production of vital DNA
It sounds like something straight out of science fiction – machines that can create the building blocks of life. Yesterday scientists celebrated the opening of the first fully automated DNA production facility in the UK.
The Edinburgh Genome Foundry will design, build and test large sections of DNA – the complex chemical that carrys all genetic information – using large-scale robotic processes.
Researchers at the facility are seeking to create and modify long strands of DNA that can be used to equip cells or organisms with new or improved functions.
Its products could lead to sweeping advances such as programming stem cells for use in personalised medicines, developing bacteria that can detect disease in the gut, or altering the DNA of biofuel crops to enable a higher yield. Staff at the Foundry, housed at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Biological Sciences, hope to manufacture genetic material on an unprecedented scale. They will be able to design and build large, complex pieces of DNA code quickly at relatively low cost.
The university expects to complete its own flagship project, to create a chromosome for a completely synthetic yeast genome, in 2018.
The facility will support an international project to synthesis the entire genome of yeast, a model organism for research into living systems.
The Foundry is primarily funded by the Research Councils UK’S Synthetic Biology for Growth Programme.
Science minister Jo Johnson said: “The UK is home to the discovery of the DNA double-helix, a ground-breaking moment in modern science. An even greater understanding of DNA, and the ability to construct and modify it will lead to untold scientific discoveries that could save millions of lives around the world.
“Through the investment by the government, the Edinburgh Genome Foundry will ensure the UK leads the way in pioneering these new medicines.”
Professor Susan Rosser, co-director of the Foundry, and chair in synthetic biology at the university, said: “We are excited to be opening the Edinburgh Genome Foundry, which will allow us to construct DNA on a large scale and will support synthetic biology in the UK. This will help us both interrogate how cells and organisms operate and realise the many economically important applications of synthetic biology.”
Professor Patrick Cai, codirector of the Foundry, said: “The Edinburgh Genome Foundry, as the UK’S largest integrated national facility for automated DNA synthesis assembly, will play a key role in ushering in major developments in the field.”
The Foundry is part of Scotland’s rapidly expanding life science industry.
Over 600 science organisations employ more than 30,000 people making the country one of the largest life sciences clusters in Europe.
The nation’s 19 universities and higher education institutions are among the most productive life science centres in the world as measured by the number of publications and citations.
These institutions generate £11 billion gross value added to the Scottish economy every year. Funding body Scotland Development International has praised the quality of Scotland’s development facilities as a key reason why international companies choose to locate in Scotland.
In June this year the Scottish Government appointed, Professor Sheila Rowan MBE chief scientific adviser who will brige the gap between the science community and policy makers.