Innovations in the field of life sciences-2009: No. 9
9th place according to The Scientist. A new recipe for gene expressionThe use of artificially synthesized genes is considered to be the most versatile and cost–effective method in terms of financial and time costs to achieve high levels of protein synthesis - a fundamental component of modern biotechnological research.
However, due to the fact that the same amino acid can be encoded in different codons, when encoding a protein, scientists have to choose from a huge number of possible combinations of nucleotide bases. At the same time, different combinations can provide different levels of expression of the same gene. Often, when selecting codons, scientists use the data once obtained by someone at their disposal, which does not have clear evidence, which does not always lead to optimal results. To solve this problem, the specialists of the California-based company DNA2.0 have developed a new algorithm for creating genes that selects the optimal set of codons based on the characteristics of real genes. According to Mark Welch, head of the gene design group at DNA2.0, the expression of proteins obtained by using the system described in the September issue of the journal PLoS ONE in the article "Design Parameters to Control Synthetic Gene Expression in Escherichia coli" is more than 10 times higher than the expression obtained by using traditional approaches.
The researchers constructed models, synthesized and analyzed the expression of various variants of genes encoding two proteins (the enzyme DNA polymerase and single-stranded immunoglobulin). After that, based on the results obtained, they developed principles that allow for the synthesis of genes to select sets of codons that provide optimal output of the target protein.
The company has published an algorithm for the synthesis of E. coli (Esherihia coli) genes in PLoS ONE, thereby providing everyone with free access. However, using the algorithm to synthesize yeast genes will cost up to $25,000 per year, regardless of the number of genes synthesized. The cost of using already developed algorithms for the synthesis of genes of other organisms depends on the scale of the applicant organization and the number of genes that it plans to synthesize. The company can also develop an algorithm "to order", however, the work can take about a year and cost from $100,000 to $250,000. According to the company's vice president of sales and marketing, Claes Gustafsson, the technology is so new that the exact business plan is still hanging in the air.