SynbiCITE

SynbiCITEFormation| 2013 (2013)

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Type| Business Incubator
Purpose| Supporting synthetic biology in industry
Headquarters| Imperial College London
Affiliations| Innovate UK, EPSRC, BBSRC
Website| SynbiCITE.com

SynbiCITE is the UK's national Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) for the adoption and use of synthetic biology by industry.[1] It also helps to incubate new businesses by providing them with space and accelerator programs, including funding, training and mentoring.

## History

SynbiCITE was created in 2013 after a UK-wide competition to find the most suitable host university with the best strategic plan.[2] Initially funded by the government and other partners for five years, the organization was intended to become self-sustaining by 2018.[3][4] In April 2016, SynbiCITE opened the Synthetic Biology Foundry, a Research Councils UK-funded facility providing remote gene design, construction, and validation services using laboratory robotics. Based on a similar facility at MIT, it is the first commercial facility in the United Kingdom using laboratory automation to provide on-demand services specifically for synthetic biology.[5][6]

In 2019, the DNA Foundry opened at Imperial College London's White City Campus.[7] Its goal is to enable businesses to outsource DNA manufacture, design, and testing and accelerate the development of DNA-based technologies in the UK. SynbiCITE also supported the development of OpenCell, which provides affordable biotechnology labs using shipping containers in White City.[8]

## Organisation

SynbiCITE is headquartered at Imperial College London. It is funded by a public-private partnership between the EPSRC, BBSRC, and Innovate UK, as well as several industrial and private investors.[9] It is run and managed by a board consisting of two co-directors (Professor Richard Kitney and Professor Paul Freemont).

## References

1. ↑ "Innovation and knowledge centres – EPSRC website". https://epsrc.ukri.org/innovation/business/opportunities/impactschemes/ikcs/.
2. ↑ "National hub to support synthetic biology extended with £5.5m funding commitment | Imperial News | Imperial College London" (in en). https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/238412/national-support-synthetic-biology-extended-with/.
3. ↑ "New Innovation and Knowledge Centre to drive UK's Synthetic Biology progress – EPSRC website". https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/news-events/news/syntheticbiologyprogress/.
4. ↑ "News in brief – 18 July 2013". 17 July 2013. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/news-in-brief-18-july-2013/2005752.article.
5. ↑ "The UK's First Robotic DNA Factory Has Opened in London". http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2016/04/the-uks-first-robotic-dna-factory-has-opened-in-london/.
6. ↑ "'DNA factory' opens at Imperial College London". 6 April 2016. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/britains-first-dna-factory-opens-at-imperial-college-london-a6971451.html.
7. ↑ "Behind-the-scenes @ London DNA Foundry, Imperial West White City". Friends of Imperial. https://www.friendsofimperial.org.uk/Event/2018-19-events-behind-the-scenes-london-dna-foundry-imperial-west-white-city.
8. ↑ Ireland, Tom (25 Aug 2018). "Buildings made from fungi? Meet London's pop-up bio-lab innovators". https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/25/buildings-made-from-fungi-open-cell-pop-up-bio-lab-innovators-london.
9. ↑ "UK's synthetic biology industry gets £10m boost – E & T Magazine". http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2013/jul/synthetic-centre.cfm.

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