DNA synthesis companies are largely separated by the length of DNA that they offer: short or long. Standard DNA oligos, synthesized through phosphoramidite synthesis—historically considered the gold standard of DNA synthesis—are typically up to 100 bases (but can go up to 300 bases).
The phosphoramidite synthesis process works incredibly well on short, uncomplicated, oligos. But over the past decade, researchers have been asking for longer pieces of DNA with more complicated sequences with complex features such as secondary structure and high GC content. Such requests have challenged the limits of phosphoramidite synthesis. As a result, an alternative method of enzymatic DNA synthesis—which allows for the synthesis of long, complicated DNA—has grown in popularity.
Indeed, in March 2023, Ansa Biotechnologies announced the successful de novo synthesis of the world’s longest DNA oligonucleotide ever reported to be produced in a single synthesis: a 1,005 base sequence that encodes a portion of an AAV vector that could be used for gene therapy development.
Up until now, companies have been categorized largely as offering either short or long reads. But one of the pioneers in the DNA synthesis space, Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), is now able to offer both to their customers. The company announced a partnership with Elegen to offer IDT customers early access to Elegen’s Enfinia Plasmid DNA—its long and high-complexity clonal gene synthesis service.
Through this partnership, IDT early access customers will have access to Elegen’s 5 kb to 15 kb clonal genes. IDT customers can place the order through IDT and the DNA will be shipped from Elegen’s U.S. facility in the San Francisco Bay Area in as fast as 10 business days. The pricing will not change from Elegen’s current pricing.
IDT
Sandy Ottensmann, vp/general manager, Gene Writing & Editing Business Unit at IDT
When asked why IDT wants to provide long reads to their customers, Sandy Ottensmann, vp/general manager, Gene Writing & Editing Business Unit at IDT, told GEN that there are a couple of pieces to it. She noted that they have been hearing from customers, more and more over the past year or two, that they want to have long and complex sequences. She said that this trend is driven by the applications that their customers are working in—namely cell and gene therapy applications, antibody and protein development, and using AI to create more complex and longer sequences.
Ottensmann is responsible for the products and strategy for IDT’s gene writing and editing, which is inclusive of their synthetic biology business and gene editing, including the cGMP manufacturing business.
Given the flurry of new companies in the long DNA synthesis space, why did IDT choose to partner with Elegen? She said that Elegen has been on the market and has a good track record with customers. Not only that but the company’s offerings have grown in the past few years and IDT was impressed when they worked with and tested Elegen’s products. Ottensmann also noted that the price of Elegen’s DNA is competitive. Elegen just announced, one month ago, that their chemistry was enabling pricing as low as $0.15 per base pair.
For Ottensmann, bringing in long and complex DNA was a “logical extension” of their synthetic biology portfolio. “We want to partner with our customers and be with them where they want to go. And if they are telling us that this is what they want, that’s something we want to be able to offer.”