Synthego Launches $1 Million in Grants to Foster Innovation and Accelerate Discovery in Genome Engineering Research

Grants further Synthego's mission of providing the next generation of Genome Engineers access to CRISPR tools to enable novel research

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Synthego

Feb 27, 2019, 09:15 ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Synthego, a leading genome engineering innovation company, today announced its inaugural Genome Engineer Innovation Grant. As part of the company's mission to make world-class genome engineering tools accessible to all scientists and bring first-of-its-kind research to fruition, Synthego will offer a variety of grants to research lab awardees totaling $1 million worth of CRISPR Engineered Cells and CRISPRevolution synthetic sgRNA kits.

Synthego Launches $1 Million in Grants to Foster Innovation and Accelerate Discovery in Genome Engineering Research

CRISPR-based genome engineering is a rapidly developing field that is positively impacting many areas of science. It is allowing scientists to fundamentally change the way they research and treat genetic disease, discover cures for cancer and engineer crops for agricultural improvement. Despite these advances, scientists still need to utilize the most efficient methods for performing CRISPR in order to get relevant experimental results.

Synthego provides scientists with access to the most efficient tools for CRISPR. This includes CRISPRevolution chemically modified synthetic sgRNAs, which are capable of achieving the highest editing efficiencies in human primary cells and cell lines. In addition, Synthego's Engineered Cells provide even greater access through guaranteed rates of gene knockouts in many common cell lines. These tools enable researchers to bring unparalleled scale, consistency, and reproducibility to their genome engineering projects.

"We're investing $1 million in the future of genome engineering because we believe CRISPR — and the genome engineers who use it — are poised to uncover unprecedented scientific breakthroughs and change the way we tackle humanity's biggest challenges," said Rich Stoner, Chief Science Officer at Synthego. "We want to help bring standards and protocols to genome engineering by providing the next generation of industry leaders with the tools they need to achieve results and bring life-changing cures to people faster."

As part of the company's mission to enable, support and partner with the future leaders in genome engineering, Synthego will support all requested reagent costs for the winners of the grants, at a minimum of $10,000 and up to $250,000. Synthego will develop a comprehensive strategy with awarded grant recipients, which could significantly change the scope of their research and might enable researchers to generate new models of disease, discover potential cures, or engineer a desired trait into a plant.

"CRISPR technologies change blindingly fast," said Jacob Corn, genome Innovation pioneer and Professor of Genome Biology at ETH Zurich. "Synthego's focus on access and standardization in genome engineering tools lets us focus on the experiment rather spending a lot of time on the tools. Support from leaders like Synthego helps advance CRISPR-based research and I'm very excited to see the impact this will have on labs applying for this grant."

Synthego is looking for scientists working on novel research or interesting applications of genome engineering and have a need for financial assistance. To apply for the grant, please visit https://www.synthego.com/grant. Applications are open now through March 29, 2019. Winners will be announced on April 19, 2019.

About Synthego
Synthego is the genome engineering innovation company. The company's automated, full stack genome engineering platform enables broader access to CRISPR to accelerate basic scientific discovery, uncover critical disease cures and develop novel synthetic biology applications to solve some of society's biggest challenges. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Synthego is used by scientists from the largest global biotechnology companies and global biology universities to unlock the potential of gene editing.

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SOURCE Synthego