Intrexon’s Industrial Products Division Achieves Bioconversion of Methane to Farnesene
Second Product of Intrexon’s Proprietary Bioconversion Platform Following Isobutanol
Intrexon’s Gas-to-Liquids Approach Significantly More Cost-Efficient Versus Conventional Methods
SAN CARLOS, Calif., June 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON), a leader in synthetic biology, today announced its Industrial Products Division has achieved the bioconversion of methane to farnesene in the lab with its proprietary platform. Farnesene is a key building block chemical for diesel fuel, and also for other lubricants and specialty products, including cosmetics, rubber, and plastics. This is the second product, following isobutanol, which Intrexon has upgraded from natural gas employing its unique cellular engineering capabilities.
To achieve industrial-scale bioconversion of natural gas to chemicals, lubricants and fuels, Intrexon is developing microbial cell lines genetically enhanced to convert methane to higher carbon content compounds at ambient temperatures and pressures, thereby reducing the significant expenditures compared to standard gas-to-liquid (GTL) processes. Traditional conversion platforms rely on costly thermochemical catalytic processes, such as the Fischer-Tropsch method of carbon upgrading, or depend on available sugar-based technologies or plant-based feedstocks, which are expensive sources of carbon. By utilizing natural gas as its supply source, Intrexon’s proprietary bioconversion platform uses one of the most economical forms of carbon that is highly abundant and is the least costly form of energy other than coal. Moreover, unlike sugar, natural gas is a highly reduced source of carbon, allowing conversion of the entire feedstock to highly reduced products.
Intrexon has developed an advanced suite of tools that enable rapid manipulation of methanotrophs, the only organism found in nature that naturally consumes methane, including gene knock in/out, direct transformation/electroporation, and plasmid-based expression systems. Unlike many industrial hosts, methanotrophs are challenging to genetically engineer as the requisite tools are generally not available and detailed microbial regulatory and physiological information are lacking. Using its technology suite, Intrexon has generated methanotroph strains that are capable of upgrading natural gas to fuels and chemicals. To capitalize on the breakthrough of bioconversion of natural gas to higher value targets, Intrexon formed a joint venture called Intrexon Energy Partners (IEP) in March 2014. IEP raised $75 million from its partners to help fund commercialization of the technology for fuels and lubricants.
Robert F. Walsh, Senior Vice President of Intrexon’s Energy Sector, commented, “Intrexon’s methane bioconversion platform holds the potential to transform the GTL industry by generating valuable fuels and chemicals at a fraction of the costs of more traditional conversion methods. We see natural gas being in ample supply for the foreseeable future, and our ability to upgrade this inexpensive carbon via our genome engineering capabilities will allow for a biocatalyst solution with a compelling economic return.”
Eli Groban, Ph.D., Intrexon’s Director of Metabolic Engineering and Systems Biology, will present at the Society for Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology Conference on Tuesday, July 22, 2014, at 10:00AM. His presentation is entitled, “Methane bioconversion to chemicals, lubricants, and fuels”.
About Intrexon Corporation
Intrexon Corporation (NYSE: XON) is a leader in synthetic biology focused on collaborating with companies in Health, Consumer, Food, Energy, and Environment Sectors to create biologically-based products that improve the quality of life and the health of the planet. Through the company’s proprietary UltraVector® platform and suite of technologies, Intrexon provides its partners with industrial-scale design and development of complex biological systems. The UltraVector® platform delivers unprecedented control over the quality, function, and performance of living cells. We call our synthetic biology approach and integrated technologies Better DNA®, and we invite you to discover more at www.DNA.com.
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Intrexon, UltraVector, and Better DNA are trademarks of Intrexon and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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Intrexon Corporation Contacts:
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Marie Rossi, Ph.D.
Senior Manager, Technical Communications
Tel: +1 (301) 556-9850
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SOURCE Intrexon Corporation