Ginkgo Bioworks Partners on Illinois-Led Team to Develop Innovative New Treatments for Oral Health

Ginkgo Bioworks announced its partnership with the Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on a five-year initiative funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The collaboration, Microbe/phage Investigation for Generalized Health TherapY (MIGHTY), aims to develop innovative new treatments for oral health by leveraging Ginkgo's advanced capabilities in working with complex microbial consortia.

As part of the Illinois-led team, Ginkgo will apply its EncapS (Encapsulation and Screening) technology—a differentiated method for ultra-high-throughput screening—to tackle the complex challenge of discovering and characterizing potent phage-based interventions for improving health, with a focus on the oral microbiome. This technology is expected to facilitate the discovery of novel phage therapies that can target specific bacterial populations within complex microbial communities.

"It's a great opportunity to get to work with the MIGHTY team led by Illinois," said Jesse Dill, Government BD Lead at Ginkgo Bioworks. "It's a top-notch, interdisciplinary team, and we are excited to apply our screening capabilities to the complex challenge of creating potent and reliable interventions that improve health through the microbiome."

Beatriz Pacheco, Engineer at Ginkgo Bioworks, added, "Our EncapS technology is uniquely positioned to address the intricate phage-host interactions within the oral microbiome. We look forward to advancing our capabilities in phage therapies and contributing to the development of innovative treatments for oral health."

Dr. Asma Hatoum-Aslan, Associate Professor of Microbiology at Illinois, added, "Ginkgo's EncapS technology is a game-changer for our work in phage biology. It allows us to screen phage-host interactions at an unprecedented scale, accelerating the discovery of effective phage therapies. This collaboration not only advances our scientific goals but also has the potential to revolutionize how we approach bacterial infections in the oral cavity."

This partnership underscores Ginkgo's commitment to collaborating with academic groups and highlights its expertise in handling complex microbial systems. By participating in this groundbreaking program, Ginkgo aims to establish itself as a leading provider of phage isolation and screening capabilities for partners in both academia and industry.