While most of the synthetic biology markets are focused in Europe and North America, the field is growing worldwide with some of the fastest-growing areas developing outside the United States. Synthetic biology followers must pay close attention to in the coming months and years, as several hotspots could be developed when an innovation at one university lab or a company sparks new spinoffs
The United Kingdom and Ireland
The United Kingdom stands out among the non-US hotspots for synthetic biology. Programs in Synthetic Biology can be easily found in the UK, while most US universities still lack them. The University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, Cambridge University and the University of Warwick are impressive for their breadth and depth in synthetic biology research.
OpenPlant, a joint initiative between John Innes Centre, the Earlham Institute and the University of Cambridge are engineering the next generation of DNA tools for “smart” crop breeding systems to advance in synthetic biology.
The number of startup companies exploring synthetic biology in the UK and neighboring Ireland is increasing. Companies like CHAIN biotech, Linear Diagnostics, Autolus, Iksuda Therapeutics, Nemesis, Mission Therapeutics, Bicycle Therapeutics, and Quethera are some of those who specialize in diagnostics, drug discovery, and therapies.
Numerous companies focused on renewable proteins, chemicals, and polymers (Green Biologics, Colorifix, and Celbius), food waste (Entomics), wastewater cleanup (CustoMem) are suitable for eco-minded job seekers. Several UK/Ireland based companies like 3F Bio, Tropic Bioscience, MillsBio, Microsynbiotix, MIAlgae, and Biotangents are focused on building the new era of agriculture with synthetic biology. The software and AI markets led by Desktop Genetics, Lab Genius and Synthase are also healthy.
Companies like Enzbond, Prokarium, Biocatalysts, Oxford Biotrans, Absynth Biologics, and Ingenza are into the manufacturing of flavors, fragrances, and industrial enzymes. Many are focused on DNA manufacturing (Helixworks Technology), manufacturing microfluidics (Fluidic Analysis and Sphere Fluidics), gene expression control (Synpromics) and gene editing (Horizon Discovery and Oxford Genetics).
Few other companies are working on really unique challenges such as genetic control of disease vectors (Oxitec), 3D printing of tissues (OxSynBio), genetic testing (Destina Genomics), cellular aging (CellAge) and compact laboratory kits for personal and educational use (Bento Bioworks).
Central Europe
The UK is not the only place in Europe that is developing a healthy synthetic biology research landscape. France, particularly Paris is the home for a number of synthetic biology firms like Toulouse White Biotechnology, an organization intended to facilitate exchanges between academic research and industry, Denoive, a company focused on products from the Deinococcus bacterial genus and Glowee, a company that wants to make safe accessible glowing bacteria.
EnobraQ and Global Bioenergies are two French companies taking interesting approaches to carbon flow. Global Bioenergies wants to produce renewable hydrocarbons from agriculture while EnobraQ is working to use CO2 as a fermentation feedstock
As always, the French market thrives with probiotics with many companies like Unibiome, Eligo Bioscience and Biomillenia using synthetic biology to develop the next generation of products. French companies PILI, Arkema and Metabolic Explorer are focused on producing specialty or renewable chemicals. And Heurisko and DNA Script are working on DNA synthesis and directed evolution.
Institutes of Systems and Synthetic Biology are also hosted by France. The French National Center for Scientific Research and the Pasteur Institute provide research opportunities in Synthetic Biology.
Countries like Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium foster synthetic biology companies (Reverdia, Isobionics, Evonik Industries, Firmenich, Evolva, Succinicity, Lanxess, Corbion, Symrise, Wacker Chemie, and the Biotech Research and Innovation Network) focused on polymers, flavors, and fragrances.
Mosa Meat, a cultured meat company in the Netherlands, Q-gel, a Swiss company developing synthetic extracellular matrices and Cellbrix, a German company working on 3D printed tissues are some Central European companies with unique research foci.
Unilever and Royal DSM have their headquarters in the Netherlands, Belgium has Cargill, Switzerland has Novartis and Germany is the center of biotech giants like Bayer and BASF. Job seekers can find openings for synthetic biologists in any of these institutions.
Synthetic Biology is also supported by Germany’s premier research institute Max Planck. The German Association for Synthetic Biology (GASB) is a good place to contact for researchers interested in synthetic biology jobs.
Numerous synthetic biology opportunities are available at the Universities in the Netherlands. There are centers for synthetic biology at the Maastricht University and the University of Groningen and a systems and synthetic biology department at Wageningen.
BaSyc is an initiative by six Dutch universities to build a synthetic cell. With growing academic researches on synthetic biology, job opportunities in the field are likely to grow in the Netherlands.
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is an emerging hub for synthetic biology, though less evolved than their neighbors to the south. Few synthetic biology companies and a Center for Synthetic Biology hosted by the University of Copenhagen can be found in Denmark.
Biomanufacturing is the major area of research in this region and companies include Chr Hansen, Biosyntia, and Novozymes. Spiber Technologies in Sweden and Neste in Finland are into recombinant spider silk and renewable fuels respectively.
Canada
A number of ongoing initiatives including the Synthetic Biology Innovation Cluster, SynBio Canada, a proposal for a Canadian Synthetic Biology Institute and several conferences make Canada a growing hotspot for synthetic biology. Concordia University in Quebec has a Centre for Applied Synthetic Biology too. Hyasynth Bio, Concentric Ag, Ontario Genomics, and Iogen are some of the companies that might provide job opportunities for researchers in synthetic biology in Canada
China and the Asia-Pacific
Although most of the non-US synthetic biology market is present in Europe, the Asia-Pacific Region could host the fastest growing market for synthetic biology in the coming years as per the predictions of market reports. In China, Synthetic Biology is rapidly growing.
The Institute of Synthetic Biology launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017 includes a Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, a Center for Synthetic Genomics, and a Center for Quantitative Synthetic Biology. A wealth of job opportunities can be found at the Shanghai headquarters in China. China is also the largest non-US market for Thermo Scientific. The opportunities will increase in the future as long as China’s newly minted Synthetic Biology Association continues.
There is a healthy landscape of synthetic biology in Japan also. The Bioinformatics and Systems Engineering division within the research institute RIKEN and the Research Center for Complex Systems Biology at the University of Tokyo are leading the growth.
Singapore is also planning to become a global leader in synthetic biology. The government is launching a synthetic biology research and development program ($19 million USD) earlier this year. New microorganisms to produce industrial products, rare fatty acids, and synthetic cannabinoids will be the three areas of interest in the program. The Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI) under the National University of Singapore, is the country’s first synthetic biology research center and it will predate the government-funded program.
For synthetic biology research in New Zealand and Australia, Synthetic Biology Australasia is the community hub. A Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform is also hosted by the Australian federal agency CSIRO. These efforts all support government and academic research and should encourage several startup efforts.
Synthetic Biology In India
Finding solutions to the problems at hand is very natural in India. It is a way of life and any solution that is economically sensible will be readily adopted by Indians. This is why India is the perfect setting for biotech-based innovation and synthetic biology.
The applications developing in India range from biofuels to industrial enzymes. The most rapid adoption of genetically modified crops happened in India. India is the largest producer of GMO plant Bt cotton. Some of the largest companies in India are into hybrid seed production. Reliance Industries Limited, the largest private company in India is adding synthetic biology to its technology portfolio. This suggests that the biggest players in the country identify synthetic biology as a technology worth pursuing.
The National Biopharma Mission and the National Biofuels Policy are two national initiatives by the Indian government to push forward research in biopharma and biofuels. The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) under the Department of Biotechnology has created 31 incubators all across India.
These incubators are helping boot up the commercialization of synthetic biology applications in India by fostering startups working on enzyme engineering, CRISPR, microbial engineering, and cell engineering. The Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), one of BIRAC’s flagship centers is strategically located in India’s biotech capital, Bangalore to promote entrepreneurship and innovation.