$ cat ./records/backed-ginkgo-bioworks-synthetic-biology-platform-engineering-mic-2019.txt
Backed Ginkgo Bioworks — synthetic biology platform engineering microbes for agricultural and pharmaceutical applications
[RECORD.TXT] · cat --full
Gates-linked investors backed Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based synthetic biology company that operates a high-throughput organism engineering platform for designing microbes with valuable capabilities — including nitrogen-fixing organisms for agriculture, fragrances, pharmaceutical ingredients, and biosecurity applications. Ginkgo's work in agricultural synthetic biology addresses one of the most energy-intensive industrial processes on Earth: the Haber-Bosch nitrogen fixation process that produces synthetic fertilizer consumes roughly 2% of global energy. Engineering crops or soil microbes to fix nitrogen biologically could dramatically reduce both fossil fuel consumption and the nitrogen pollution degrading the world's waterways.
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