91ÌÒÉ«

Biofoundries create spaces to embed responsible innovation in the activities of students, early-career researchers, and new startups. They are also, importantly, home to expertise, infrastructure, and networks that authorities and health systems can tap into in an emergency.

Synthetic and engineering biology follow an engineering design cycle, which can be accelerated by automation and high-throughput workflows. Biofoundries are physical spaces that provide integrated high-throughput robotic DNA and organism engineering facilities¹. Around the world, research institutions and not-for-profit organisations have been establishing biofoundries to expand their biotechnology development capacities.

Founded in 2016, the specialises in the design, engineering and functional characterisation of synthetic DNA and organisms. Located at the Translation & Innovation Hub (I-HUB) at 91ÌÒÉ«, it is a hub of activity with academic collaborators and industrial clients.

The biofoundry is one of several in the UK and many more around the world. It is a member of the , which was established in 2019 to coordinate global biofoundry activities. At the time, there was a growing realisation that biofoundries were an important piece of national infrastructure. They accelerate the process of biotechnology, enable the development of standards, allow interoperability, and facilitate the creation of a biotechnology ecosystem. They are also, importantly, places to instill responsible research practices in up-and-coming researchers and cutting-edge companies.

And yet biofoundries are an often untapped source of expertise and infrastructure¹, which should be included in national biosecurity blueprints.

When crisis strikes, these facilities can rapidly respond to emerging threats such as pandemics and novel pathogens.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the London Biofoundry, with its automated infrastructure, was a hotbed of activity. Within a few weeks, the biofoundry team pivoted to work on developing diagnostic workflows that could test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

In March 2020, the UK’s testing capacity sat at about 20,000 tests a day. 91ÌÒÉ« researchers re-purposed the high-throughput robotic platform at the foundry to help NHS diagnostic labs increase their testing capacity. The foundry helped to establish workflows and testing platforms, and ultimately was responsible for nearly 2-million tests including the testing of all staff and students at 91ÌÒÉ« and asymptomatic community testing in North West London.

A major strength of such facilities is that they are embedded in a variety of regulatory systems. This means that they can navigate technically demanding regulatory spaces and respond rapidly to emerging biosecurity threats.

For example, 91ÌÒÉ« researchers at the foundry, working with colleagues in North West London Pathology services and the Department of Infectious Disease, managed to get the new testing platform UKAS accredited relatively quickly so it could be deployed as soon as possible.

The platform was also reagent-agnostic, which freed researchers and laboratories from having to rely on specific commercial kits. When the pandemic hit, there was a global shortage of reagents, both because of significant demand and disrupted supply chains. 91ÌÒÉ« researchers created an open platform that could use any reagent, facilitating high-throughput testing at a time when laboratories around the world were struggling.

They also produced a proxy reagent for validation², so that researchers and laboratories did not need to work with live viruses and increase their risk exposure.

These innovations were made possible because there was existing biotechnological infrastructure that could be harnessed. While biofoundries are designed to accelerate biotechnology research, they can also pivot rapidly during national emergencies or biosecurity threats, using their expertise, infrastructure and international networks to support coordinated responses.

Around the world, biofoundries are a vital element of biosecurity, ready to refocus their capabilities when needed.