IDT Synthetic Biology Grant Program Announcement

Integrated DNA Technologies, the world’s largest manufacturer of nucleic acids, will be announcing the winners of a new grant program specifically aimed at supporting synthetic biology startups. The grant is dedicated to enabling research and development early stage companies by supplying the most important raw material of synthetic biology: DNA.

The winner of IDT’s Synthetic Biology Grant Program will receive 100,000 base pairs of DNA from the company’s gBlocks® Gene Fragments product line, a $14,900 value. gBlocks® are double-stranded segments of DNA ranging between approximately 125 to 3000 base pairs in length. They are a versatile resource for companies across multiple synbio sub-disciplines, from health and medicine to biomanufacturing. IDT recognizes that the current high price of DNA synthesis for gene-length fragments often represents a heavy burden for startups and hopes to lower those barriers for a few special companies wielding world-changing platforms.

In addition to naming a first-place winner, the grant program will also name a runner-up who will receive 50,000 base pairs of gBlocks®, a $7,450 value. Both winner and runner-up will have the opportunity to receive their winnings in the form of other synthetic biology products of equivalent value among IDT’s vast offerings.