Imagine engineering enzymes to break down plastic waste, revolutionizing drug discovery, or even creating living therapeutics. This isn't science fiction, folks – it's the thrilling reality of synthetic biology, a field where life itself becomes a programmable platform. At the heart of this revolution lies the I.DOT Liquid Handler, a microfluidic marvel empowering groundbreaking research like never before.
Meet Leann Teadt, Ph.D., a scientist at Codexis, pushing the boundaries of protein engineering. Her team's quest? To design enzymes for all sorts of products, including ones that devour plastic at unprecedented rates, tackling one of our planet's most pressing challenges.
But their journey wasn't without hurdles. Traditional workflows were slow, laborious, and limiting. Enter the I.DOT Non-Contact Dispenser.
Let's get back to the basics. Synthetic biology is a multidisciplinary field that combines biology, engineering, and computer science to design and construct new biological parts, devices, and systems.
At its core, synthetic biology aims to engineer living organisms to perform specific functions or produce valuable products. This can involve modifying existing biological systems or creating entirely new ones from scratch.
The field of synthetic biology has gained significant attention in recent years due to its potential to address various global challenges, such as producing sustainable biofuels, developing new medical treatments, and creating innovative materials. In our latest webinar, Innovations in Drug Discovery: Advancements in Protein Engineering & Mass Spectrometry, our panelists, Leann Teadt (Codexis) and John "Jack" F. Cahill (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) walked attendees through their latest collaboration of engineering enzymes for nylon degradation to address our global plastic problem.
One of the most promising applications of synthetic biology is in the field of medicine and healthcare.
As in Leann's case at Codexis, researchers have been leveraging synthetic biology techniques to develop novel therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and drug delivery systems. Codexis has a 20-year history of enzyme engineering to produce scalable and more sustainable enzymatic solutions.
For example, synthetic biology can be used to synthesize RNAi to create therapeutics products, such as the vaccines that came to the market as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we've seen post-pandemic, this approach can potentially revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry by enabling the production of complex and expensive drugs at a lower cost.
Synthetic biology holds great promise in transforming the field of medicine and healthcare, offering innovative solutions to improve human health.
The I.DOT Liquid Handler played a crucial role in enabling certain workflows that were challenging to Leann and her team. In fact, this miniaturized maestro transformed their research. Its unmatched precision and automation enabled Leann's team to conduct high-throughput screening, testing thousands of enzyme variants quickly and efficiently.
The I.DOT's non-contact dispensing capability reliably placed microfluidic droplets onto surface-patterned microarrays, a delicate task crucial for their experiments.
The results were nothing short of astonishing. Leann's team identified promising enzyme candidates with remarkable plastic-degradation abilities, paving the way for a future where plastic pollution may become a thing of the past.
Watch Leann present her latest work from our webinar below:
The I.DOT Liquid Handler's magic extends far beyond plastic. Its versatility empowers researchers across the synthetic biology spectrum.
Imagine creating personalized cancer treatments or vaccines tailored to individual patients. The I.DOT's precision liquid handling enables the intricate manipulation of cells and biomolecules, fueling this groundbreaking research.
The I.DOT accelerates the drug discovery pipeline, from protein engineering to high-throughput screening, bringing life-saving medications to patients faster.
Leann's story is just the tip of the iceberg. Dive deeper into the I.DOT Liquid Handler's capabilities and discover how it can supercharge your workflows:
The future of biology is being written, drop by drop, with the I.DOT Liquid Handler as the pen. Join the bioconvergence revolution and rewrite the possibilities.