SGI-DNA, a Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI) company based in La Jolla, Calif., has launched a suite of cell engineering services for generation of custom mammalian cell lines for research use.

Cell lines developed using the service are appropriate for the expression of novel proteins as well as a variety of functional studies, including cell-based assays for compound screening.

The introduction of the service provides research laboratories access to all aspects of SGI’s extensive cell engineering experience for design, development and generation of custom cell lines with novel properties. Unique to the service is the SGI Archetype software that offers extensive genomic databases, proprietary algorithms, and bioinformatics tool sets to aid design.

For each project, SGI-DNA’s scientific staff collaborates with clients and partners to provide expert insight and develop innovative strategies that leverage their advanced technologies. To ensure reliable data, cell lines developed by SGI-DNA are verified by sequencing and further validated upon customer request. The process results in a fully optimized cell engineering approach designed to alleviate challenges, such as variable protein expression, low product yields, and protein instability.

“SGI’s research efforts have greatly expanded our mammalian cell engineering capabilities. This has allowed us to develop innovative approaches to address extremely complex mammalian cell engineering challenges in our collaborations with leading biopharmaceutical partners,” said Sean Stevens, SGI’s leader of mammalian synthetic biology. “Through SGI-DNA, we can now offer precise cell engineering services which take advantage of our unique combination of proprietary sequence databases, state-of-the-art bioinformatics, and experimental know-how.”

Key advantages of SGI-DNA’s cell engineering services include: generation of novel genotypes through mutations at multiple genomic loci; creation of complex multigenic DNA constructs; combination of expression modulation, various reporter genes, generation of knock-in and knock-out cell lines; minimization of off-target risks through the use of proprietary bioinformatics algorithms; and expression of virtually any gene sequence with selection markers of one’s choice.

A key technology behind SGI-DNA’s cell engineering services is the Gibson Assembly method, developed in 2009 by Dan Gibson and his colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute along with Synthetic Genomics. In 2010, that well-established approach was used to create the first fully synthetic cell.

Since the commercial introduction of the Gibson Assembly method to the life science community by SGI-DNA, it has become a mainstay in many synthetic biology laboratories and has attracted interest from the academic and commercial life sciences communities.