by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The factories of old — a technological wave that swept in with the Industrial Revolution — these were inorganic manufacturing centers, and they are now the wave of the past.
They used a suite of lifeless fossil ingredients and mechanical, lifeless manufacturing techniques. They might have been made fast through computers, sensors and robotics, but they were not alive. Products were made, not grown.
But today a wave of companies have taken something important from agriculture — the concept of growing something useful by using life itself — using biology. And they are introducing a wave of organic manufacturing that is now just beginning to take shape.
The change may not yet be obvious. Companies are still putting steel in the ground, and using advanced robotics and analytics to add speed and value to the old ways. But the change is underway — consider in the far future that everything about manufacturing will be living, from life, organic. The inputs, the processes, the very walls of the fermenters themselves and every system in the plant.
Out with the old, in with the new
Out with the old inorganic feedstocks like coal, oil and gas. In with the new feedsocks like woods, grasses, fibers and sugars. Out with the old inorganic catalysts, and in with the new ones like enzymes. Out with the old digital sensors and in with new skin-like sensors based on the way organisms sense light, heat, sound, pressure, velocity and more. Out with the old manufacturing trains made with steel, glass and plastic, and in with new organic materials with better functional properties and physical flexibility. Out with the old inorganic multi-step, anallog chemical transformations, and in with one-step transformations achieved by a new generation of designer microorganisms.
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The Step-Change that demonstrates the trend: Gingko’s BioWorks2
A step change in that transition arrived this morning with news that Ginkgo BioWorks announced the launch of their next generation foundry, Bioworks2. With t25,000 square feet and at least 6X expected increase in capacity compatred to BioWorks 1, Bioworks2 represents a step change in what is possible for organism design.
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Ginkgo Bioworks and Genomatica have allied to more rapidly deliver biology-based solutions for the world’s highest-volume intermediate and specialty chemicals.
The alliance aims to accelerate the transition of the mainstream chemical industry to biological process technology.
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Genomatica and Ginkgo now make it practical and feasible for existing and new industry participants to access, license, and deploy cost effective and innovative biotechnology.”
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Ginkgo Bioworks will expand Amyris’ strain engineering capability via access to its world-class foundry; Amyris will be responsible for bringing products to scale. Together, the two companies have a portfolio of more than 70 products under contract for delivery to the world’s leading brands across industrial, health and personal care markets. Together, the two companies expect to deliver more than 20 new products over the next three years. READ MORE