Twist Bioscience

Twist Bioscience was founded in 2013 by Emily Leproust to commercialize a high-throughput semiconductor-based DNA synthesis technology. The company supplies DNA for research and commercial applications of genetic engineering, and is developing additional markets for applications including digital data storage and DNA origami-based biomaterials and nanostructures.

Twist Bioscience can achieve 1,000x improvements in DNA production density by scaling down from the traditional 96-well plate to tiny micro-wells and channels on a silicon chip of the same area. Throughput is greatly increased because semiconductor-based technology allows the chemical reactions necessary for DNA synthesis to be scaled down by a factor of 1,000,000. Twist Bioscience is able to produce 9,600 genes on a single silicon chip using theirits technology;, compared to 1 gene being produced on the same amount of space using traditional DNA synthesis technologies.

In the video below, the CEO of Twist Bioscience, Emily Leproust, explains the innovations in DNA synthesis technology.

NextClonal generationgenes are next-generation sequencing (NGS) verified gene clones with no type II S restriction sequences and custom vector onboarding with verification. There is currently a lower limit of 10+ten genes (no upper limit ) to place an order that will be ready within 20twenty business days.

DNA is being developed as a storage medium for digital data. Twist Bioscience is working with Microsoft and the University of Washington to improve data storage using DNA, and havehas published research demonstrating high-fidelity storage and random-access retrieval of over 200 MB of data, including an OK Go music video. As the technology matures, DNA could offer a high-density, low-energy, long-term, and secure digital data storage solution. Twist Bioscience explains their work on DNA data storage in their white paper.

Gene fragments are non-clonal, and can be used for several downstream cloning methods for assembly into bigger genes or pathways. The error rate on gene fragment production is approximately 1:3000 base pairs.

Oligo pools are made to be diverse collections of oligonucleotides and can be used for applications such as the creation of CRISPR sgRNA libraries high-throughput reporter essays. Oligo pools are madedesigned to be highly uniform and accurate for maximal oligo representation and have an error rate of approximately 1:1000 nucleotides (nt).

The Twist human core exome kit is a DNA probe target enrichment kit. It comes with modular high performancehigh-performance DNA probes designed to uniformly and accurately capture sequence depth. The modular kit is simple to integrate into existing lab protocols due to its has many customization options.

The turnaround time for orders is still relatively long compared to other lab-based methods, especially for smaller amounts of DNA. Therefore, in certain instances, it is more reasonable for researchers and companies to utilize traditional cloning methods depending on the genes needed for experiments. Slow turnaround time for smaller orders is the primary reason Ginkgo Bioworks acquired Gen9, which brought that function in-house.

In 2016, Agilent filed a lawsuit against Twist Bioscience, alleging Emily Leproust, a former Agilent employee, stole trade secrets developed by the company to start the DNA synthesis startup.

On May 27th27, 2014, Twist Bioscience received $5.1 million dollars in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Defense Advanced Research projectsProjects Agency Agency (DARPA). The contract was awarded to Twist Bioscience under DARPA's Living Foundries program.

On Feb 10, 2014, Twist Bioscience received $9,100,000 in series A funding from Asset Management Ventures (AMV).

On May 27, 2014, Twist Bioscience completed a $26,000,000 series B funding round. Investors include:included DARPA, ARCH Venture Partners, Paladin Capital GroupPaladin Capital Group, Yuri MilnerYuri Milner, and some undisclosed investors.

On June 10, 2015, Twist Bioscience closed a $37,000,000 series C funding round. Investors include: Foresite CapitalForesite Capital, ARCH Venture PartnersARCH Venture Partners, Paladin Capital Group Paladin Capital Group, Venture Investors, Fidelity Management & ResearchFidelity Management & Research, Illumina, Joby PritzkerJoby Pritzker, and Yuri MilnerYuri Milner.

On March 27th27, 2017, Twist Bioscience closed a $61,000,000 series D funding round. Investors include: Foresite CapitalForesite Capital, ARCH Venture PartnersARCH Venture Partners, Paladin Capital GroupPaladin Capital Group, Fidelity Management & ResearchFidelity Management & Research, Illumina, Boris NikolicBoris Nikolic, Cormorant Asset Management, WuXi Healthcare Ventures, Yuri Milner,Yuri Milner, Mérieux Développement Mérieux Développement, ARCH Overage Fund, Nick Pritzker, and Joby Pritzker.

On June 14th14, 2017, Twist Bioscience closed a $27,000,000 series E funding round. Investors include:included Biomatics CapitalBiomatics Capital, Reinet Fund S.C.AReinet Fund S.C.A, F.I.S, NFT Investment Limited, KangMei Group, Bay City Capital, GF Xinde Life Science Investment Fund, 3W Partners Capital, and Ditch Plains Capital ManagementDitch Plains Capital Management LP.

On April 3rd3, 2018, Twist Bioscience received $50,000,000 in funding from private investors.

In June 2016, Twist Bioscience became partners with Desktop Genetics, a company using AI to create CRISPR screens. The partnership focuses on developing and integrating DNA synthesis tools to design research protocols that enhance gene editing research. Desktop Genetics works with theirits customers to design CRISPR sgRNA libraries for a cell line before sending this information to Twist Bioscience for sgRNA library synthesis. This partnership aims to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of gene editing research.

In June 2017, the BioBricks foundation partnered up with Twist Bioscience on the Free Genes project, an initiative to create an open-source library of 10,000 genes that form biological parts important for synthetic biology. Twist Bioscience will be providing all the DNA that will be used for the project, and BioBricks will assemble a library of useful genes using its team and drawing on support from the scientific community. All genetic constructs created through this partnership will be made freely available to the public through the Open Material Transfer Agreement, which allows any recipient to use, modify, combine, copy, and redistribute the genes (in compliance with applicable biosafety and intellectual property laws).

In July 2017, Quintara Bioscience and Twist Bioscience became business partners, announcing theyit willwould be working together to create qBlock Gene Fragment and qGene DNA cloning services. Twist Bioscience will combinecombines theirits silicon DNA synthesis technology with Quintara Bioscience's sequencing and cloning technologies to deliver gene fragment and cloning services.

Twist Bioscience and Synbio Technologies became partners on July 11th11, 2017. The partnership seeks to combine technologies being used at both companies, by offering DNA strands up to 70 kilobases in length. Twist Bioscience will synthesize DNA strands up to 3.2 kilobases in length before shipping them off to Synbio Technologies for completion. This partnership gives both companies more international presence: Twist Bioscience inis located in San Francisco, and Synbio Technologies is in China, so by working together, they plan to be able to offer improved DNA strand products that enhance scientific research for the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

On April 6th, 2016, Twist Bioscience acquired the Israeli software company Genome Compiler for an undisclosed price. Twist plans to use Genome Compiler's software developers and technology to build an an e-commerce platform that allows customers to create their own gene designs online before ordering, and to leverage theirits strong software development team for future projects.

According to BCC Research, the overall market for synthetic biology products iswas expected to grow from $4.4 billion in 2017 to over $13.9 billion by 2022.

Twist serves 600 customers across the three areas of the synthetic biology market in a broad range of industries. Revenue was $20.5 million for the trailing 12 months ended June 30, 2018, and revenue in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2018, the company's fiscal year end, is estimated to be between $8.0 million and $8.3 million. Ginkgo Bioworks is Twist Bioscience's largest customer, accounting for 32% of revenue.

Twist serves 600 customers across the three areas of the synthetic biology market in a broad range of industries. Revenue was $20.5 million for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2018, and revenue in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2018, the company's fiscal year-end, is estimated to be between $8.0 million and $8.3 million. Ginkgo Bioworks is Twist Bioscience's largest customer, accounting for 32% of revenue.