Ginkgo Bioworks and GreenLab announce partnership

GreenLab, an emerging plant-biotechnology company producing complex proteins in corn, and Ginkgo Bioworks announced a new partnership. Together, GreenLab and Ginkgo aim to enable production of brazzein, a sweet-tasting protein found in the fruit of the native West African Oubli plant, at commercial scale. The two companies have previously partnered on a project to develop an enzyme for GreenLab’s PFAS degradation application. he global sugar replacement market is growing due to increased consumer demand. Sugar substitutes can help manage obesity, but some artificial sweeteners have been linked to various health issues including heart disease. Novel sweeteners can be used as natural substitutes for sugar in products across the food and beverage industry. GreenLab hopes to revolutionize the sweetener industry with brazzein. Its proprietary technology allows it to grow enzymes and other proteins inside of corn kernels. By producing proteins in a cultivated crop, GreenLab can readily scale production across acres of cornfields, with little additional up-front capital and infrastructure.