Leveraging Ginkgo's plant-cell assay and engineering capabilities to aid Light Bio in optimizing the performance of its light-emitting plants

KETCHUM, Idaho and BOSTON, April 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Light Bio, Inc., a company that is creating bioluminescent plants for home and garden, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, today announced a collaboration to leverage Ginkgo's plant cell assays for bioluminescence engineering. Through the agreement, Ginkgo aims to help improve the luminescent output and efficiency of the enzymes within Light Bio's glowing ornamental plants.

The scientists at Light Bio have discovered a new type of bioluminescence mechanism and are using synthetic biology to engineer plants to efficiently emit light. The original light emission pathway Light Bio uses in its glowing plants comes from bioluminescent mushrooms, and the company is now focused on expanding its engineering capabilities to support the creation of glowing plants.

"We are excited to collaborate with Ginkgo toward additional multifold output and efficiency improvements powered by Ginkgo's plant cell engineering capabilities across both individual enzyme and metabolic pathway improvements," said Keith Wood, CEO, Light Bio. "Light Bio has already achieved strong light emission results on our glowing plant luminescence to date."

"Nothing captures the wonder of biology quite like seeing glowing plants in person," said Jason Kelly, CEO, Ginkgo Bioworks. "Our platform enables developers to imagine with biology and to design all types of cells, from bacteria and yeast to mammalian and plant cells. We're so excited to bring this unique application onto our platform and to help Light Bio bring the magic of glowing plants to people."

About Light Bio
Light Bio creates novel biodesigns in living light. Through consumer-led applications of synthetic biology, Light Bio is opening new markets with products that have never existed before. Led by a team with deep experience in the development and commercialization of bioluminescence products, the company is sustained by its proprietary technologies backed by a strong patent portfolio. More information can be found at www.light-bio.com.

About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo is building a platform to enable customers to program cells as easily as we can program computers. The company's platform is enabling biotechnology applications across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to industrial chemicals to pharmaceuticals. Ginkgo has also actively supported a number of COVID-19 response efforts, including K-12 pooled testing, vaccine manufacturing optimization and therapeutics discovery. For more information, visit www.ginkgobioworks.com.

Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the potential success and objectives of the partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) the effect of Ginkgo's business combination with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. ("Soaring Eagle") on Ginkgo's business relationships, performance, and business generally, (ii) risks that the business combination disrupts current plans of Ginkgo and potential difficulties in Ginkgo's employee retention, (iii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Ginkgo related to its business combination with Soaring Eagle, (iv) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities now that it is a public company due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business and changes in the combined capital structure, (v) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations after the completion of the business combination, and identify and realize additional opportunities, (vi) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (vii) the unpredictability of the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the demand for COVID-19 testing and the commercial viability of our COVID-19 testing business, and (viii) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 29, 2022 and other documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com

GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/light-bio-partners-with-ginkgo-bioworks-to-optimize-the-brightness-of-glowing-plants-through-bioluminescence-engineering-301526231.html

SOURCE Ginkgo Bioworks