Codex DNA, Inc. announced that its R&D team has used the company's proprietary short oligo ligation assembly (SOLA) enzymatic DNA synthesis (EDS) technology to successfully construct the hemagglutinin (H1) and neuraminidase (N1) genes from the influenza A virus genome. SOLA EDS is a sustainable, scalable, and cost-effective approach designed to significantly reduce timelines for constructing synthetic DNA, RNA, and proteins compared to traditional chemical synthesis, paving the way for more efficient and effective development of mRNA-based vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics, and medicines. SOLA EDS technology will be integrated into Codex DNA's upcoming BioXp Oligo Printer and BioXp Digital-to-Biological Converter systems, providing customers with an end-to-end solution for their life science research and synthetic biology needs.

The construction of the H1 and N1 genes, which are approximately 1,800 base pairs (bp) and 1,500bp in length respectively, is the latest important milestone related to development of the SOLA EDS technology. This project demonstrated Codex DNA's ability to reliably and reproducibly print short DNA oligos — up to 100 bp in length — for assembly into high-fidelity longer genes. Unlike alternative EDS technologies that employ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), which incorporates one DNA letter at a time, the streamlined SOLA DNA process generates high-quality long synthetic DNA from a universal, pre-manufactured library of short DNA oligos.

The short DNA oligos provide the component building blocks to efficiently assemble complex synthetic genes and mRNA templates using Codex DNA's industry-standard Gibson Assembly® method on the automated BioXp instrumentation. The unique approach of SOLA EDS addresses many of the challenges facing TdT-based enzymatic DNA synthesis methods related to cost, fidelity, producibility, flexibility, and scalability. Because SOLA combines purified and sequence-verified DNA blocks to synthesize oligos, it has the potential to be faster, more accurate, and higher-throughput than existing EDS technologies.

In addition, these DNA building blocks can be manufactured in large quantities and used extensively before replenishment, reducing the cost of DNA synthesis exponentially. Once integrated into the BioXp instrumentation, these benefits should enable several downstream applications including vaccine development, therapeutics development, diagnostics, precision medicine, and DNA data storage. In addition to efficiency benefits for customers, SOLA EDS could also make a positive environmental impact.

Traditional processes for manufacturing oligos involve the use of toxic chemicals and produce hazardous waste. The SOLA EDS technology drastically reduces the use of toxic chemicals. Codex DNA plans to incorporate the core SOLA EDS technology into its automated family of BioXp systems starting in 2023, providing customers with a complete push-button benchtop experience.