High-throughput DNA synthesis based on semiconductor chips can simultaneously synthesize tens of thousands of DNA, and the cost is several orders of magnitude lower than traditional DNA synthesis.
Chiplodg Tech (Chinese:芯宿科技) announced the completion of an angel + financing round worth tens of millions of CNY on May 5.
This round of financing was led by Qiming Venture Partners (Chinese:创投领投), followed by Frees Fund (Chinese:峰瑞资本) and Xinhang Capital (Chinese:芯航资本).
Founded in 2021, Chiplodg Tech is reportedly the first enterprise in China to develop molecular DNA microarray technology. Microarrays are a technology in which thousands of short, synthetic, single-stranded DNA sequences are bound to a surface similar to computer microchips. The company uses molecular-level integrated circuits to analyze DNA and promote biotechnology by making use of semiconductor chips.
Based on high-throughput DNA synthesis, Chiplodg Tech gradually expands its business to high-throughput RNA and protein synthesis and detection. It is determined to become the next Medtronic and ThermoFisher Scientific, according to a company statement.
As an upstream industry in synthetic biology, DNA synthesis serves, among other purposes, basic scientific research, cell factory, precision medicine, nucleic acid vaccine, biomedicine and DNA information storage, and plays an important role in life science.
The key point for DNA synthesis is quality, quantity and cost.
At present, the leading optical-based sequencing technology has reached its limit, and difficult to further reduce the cost.
Semiconductors provide an ideal platform and the high integration and multi-functional characteristics of integrated circuits can provide ultra-high throughput and ultra-high precision, and greatly reduce the cost of DNA synthesis.
Companies in the same field like GenScript (Chinese:金斯瑞生物科技) take the lead in gene synthesis in China. They have their own design and synthesis system. In addition, some emerging companies, such as Tsingke Biotechnology (Chinese:擎科生物) and Synbio Technologies (Chinese:泓迅科技) also possess a lot of market share.