MetagenomX
Empowering Innovation through Nature's Technology
Our mission
Biotechnology can significantly reduce the global carbon footprint, combat pollution, and significantly enhance human medicine. Nature holds a wealth of biological commodities, such as catalytic enzymes capable of carrying out complex chemical reactions, fast acting protein therapeutics and small molecules for the pharmaceutical industry. However, technological and legislative barriers prevent industries from accessing these untapped resources.
At MetagenomX, we remove these barriers, directly exploring and harnessing nature to make these resources available to our customers across a range of industries. We are also actively developing and leveraging AI tools to drive the widespread adoption of biotechnology across multiple sectors, ensuring a sustainable and healthier future for all.
How?
MetagnenomX directly accesses, collects, and processes genetic resources from multiple environmental niches across the globe, cataloguing the biotechnological commodities therein using in-house technology, and making them available through products and services. We deliver these previously inaccessible commodities in a manner tailored to each customer, from MetagenomX libraires, to panels of unpatented enzymes or therapeutic proteins, and specialist protein discovery services. Finally, we will utilise AI to better identify biotechnological commodities faster, and more accurately for our customers across a range of industries.
MetagenomX libraries
Our MetagenomX libraries are used for the fast identification of biological commodities. Our libraries are assembled from environmental DNA obtained from a variety of niches ranging from hot springs. deep seas, the human gut microbiome and any location of interest to our customers. We process these libraries into a form compatible standard lab host systems and that can be easily and quickly screened by our customers for millions of protein therapeutics, catalytic enzymes and small molecules. MetagenomX libraries give our customers access to millions of these untapped, unpatented commodities from areas of unexplored genetic diversity in a single Eppendorf tube.
Environmental DNA
We also offer unprocessed Environmental DNA directly with associated sequencing data. This product can provide you access to untapped genetic material, enzymes, proteins, synthetic biology tools such as promoters or anything else you require. Using this product, in conjunction with PCR, you can isolate and characterise individual genetic resources in a single day.
MetagenomX discovery service
Using our in-house technology and expertise, MetagenomX has the capability to directly screen our libraries and identify any therapeutic protein, catalytic enzyme or small molecule that you require. We are happy to discuss all possibilities with you.
Team
Harry Austin, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder of MetagenomX, is a researcher in biocatalysis with a focus on enzyme discovery, and directed evolution. Harry spent four years as a PhD student joint funded by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado, USA, and the University of Portsmouth under the supervision of John McGeehan and Gregg T. Beckham, where he engineered new PET-degrading enzymes. He then received a Humboldt fellowship grant and joined Uwe Bornscheuer's lab in Greifswald, Germany, for two years, where he developed new cloning strategies and engineered enzymatic systems to optimize biomass upcycling. Finally, he joined Aminoverse, a biotech company, working on the discovery and engineering of valuable industrial enzymes.
Thomas Oïffer, PhD, CSO & Co-Founder at MetagenomX
Thomas worked three years as a research assistant at CNRS, IBPC in Paris at Gregory Boël's lab, focusing on bacterial physiology and translation regulation mechanisms. He then joined Uwe Bornscheuer's lab to pursue his PhD on the enzymatic degradation of polyethylene plastic. He specialized in enzyme discovery and characterization, as well as the chemical treatment of plastic materials and their upcycling strategies.
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The methods by which we discover and utilise biotechnology must and can be improved. MetagenomX will change this. We are an AI enhanced biotechnology resource platform that provide industries with nature’s technology, optimised through billions of years of evolution.
Advisory board
Uwe Bornscheuer
Professor of biocatalysis
University of Greifswald
25 years experience in biocatalysis
Recipient of 2022 Enzyme Engineering Award
Garry Nolan
Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine
One of the top 25 inventors at Stanford University
Contact us
You would like to know more about our products?
MetagenomX is open to collaboration with Academic and Industrial partners. You would like to discuss a project?
Please contact us!