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Lonza Launches Scarab Genomics’ High-Yielding Clean Genome® E. coli for Biologics Production

Lonza Group Ltd
22 Sept 2010
Sarah Sarah
Marketing / Sales

Product news

Scarab Genomics and Lonza announced today the companies have entered into a preferred marketing and sales agreement for Scarab Genomics’ Clean Genome® E. coli. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lonza will support Scarab Genomics’ business development activities and becomes the preferred marketing provider for the Clean Genome® technology, giving Lonza customers full access to the platform for protein and plasmid DNA production. Additionally, Lonza and Scarab Genomics will work together to develop new cutting-edge microbial expression technologies.

“As the industry leading CMO, Lonza has a wealth of experience in developing and marketing novel expression solutions,” said Fred Blattner, CEO of Scarab Genomics. “We’re extremely happy to be working with Lonza to bring the Clean Genome® technology to a wider customer base.”

The optimized Clean Genome® E. coli strain is designed to provide enhanced genetic stability, improved metabolic efficiency and improved production yields. These properties make Clean Genome® E. coli a powerful system to establish commercially superior manufacturing processes for therapeutic proteins, plasmid DNA, and vaccines.

“The Scarab Genomics technology is a stable, high yielding platform that enables customers to lower their cost of goods and simplify their production process,” said Joachim Klein, Head of Microbial Innovation & Strain Development for Lonza. “Lonza is very pleased to be able to offer this breakthrough microbial expression technology to our customers side by side with our existing XS Microbial Expression Technologies™.”

During the original sequencing of the E.coli genome, Dr. Blattner’s group discovered inherent deficiencies in standard E. coli as a production strain. He went on to found Scarab Genomics, and the company has bioengineered the Clean Genome® E. coli by deleting about 650 genes (~15% of the E. coli K-12 genome) to create an optimized production host. Using synthetic biology methods, Scarab Genomics eliminated nonessential genes, insertion sequence (IS) elements, recombinogenic/mobile DNA, cryptic viruses, and virulence genes from the genome.

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Genome AnalysisGenomics, the study of genomes, includes functional genomics, evolutionary genomics and comparative genomics. There are many genomic technologies such as DNA sequencing of whole genomes, computational biology and bioinformatics. DNA and nucleic acids must be isolated and concentrated from cells for analysis with kits, automated analyzers and software. Other useful technologies for studying genomics include PCR, microarrays and electrophoresis.MicrobiologyMicrobiology is the study of microorganisms including protists, prokaryotes, fungi, and, often, viruses. Microorganisms are a useful research tool as genetic vectors and, in immunology, for antibiotic susceptibility testing, cellular biology and genetics. Microorganisms commonly grow readily in incubators with microbial culture media; this can contain chromogenic supplements to differentiate between cell lines. Estimate your culture’s density of microorganisms with colony counters, or screen and select colonies for desirable clones with automated colony pickers. Additionally, equipment is available to monitor environments for the presence of microbes and identify with microbial identification instruments. Find the best microbiology products in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.DNA / RNA Extraction and PurificationPurified DNA and RNA are required for numerous downstream molecular biology applications. Consequently, the importance of high-quality DNA/RNA extraction and purification equipment cannot be underestimated. Many purification kits are available and are typically optimized for nucleic acid type and source, including plasmid DNA, genomic DNA, mRNA, RNA and viral nucleic acid purification kits. Automated extraction and purification of nucleic acids can be implemented with magnetic bead separator instruments or high-throughput purification workstations. Find the best DNA/RNA extraction and purification equipment in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.DNA SequencingDNA sequencing, such as sanger sequencing, is a biological technique that determines the precise order of nucleotide bases in a fragment or template of DNA. DNA sequencers and genetic analyzers are based on capillary electrophoresis, where labeled DNA fragments are electrophoretically separated by size as they migrate through a polymer. Find the best DNA sequencing products, including DNA sequencing kits, genomic libraries and genetic identity kits in our peer-reviewed product directory: compare products, check customer reviews and receive pricing direct from manufacturers.

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