OneOne Biosciences partners with Ginkgo Bioworks to advance its platform and nitrogen fixation microbial product

Date:12-21-2023

OneOne Biosciences, a French startup building a comprehensive suite of agricultural microbial solutions for farmers, and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, announced a new partnership. This collaboration will leverage Ginkgo's robust ag biologicals infrastructure, biotechnological expertise, and Strain Optimization Services to accelerate OneOne's research and product development in agricultural microbial solutions.

OneOne believes that existing crop fertilization and protection products need a major upgrade — conventional agrochemicals are responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and large-scale pollution. Farmers also face high price volatility and supply chain issues.

OneOne's mission is to equip growers with bio-based agricultural inputs characterized by both exceptional effectiveness and longevity. Central to this mission is OneOne's development of a novel, universal solution for production and delivery of ag microbials through the OneOne Multiplier™, a user-friendly "espresso machine-type" device that amplifies microbes at the point of use. Users can insert OneOne Livepods™ into the Multiplier to aseptically prepare microbials, which can then be applied directly to crops. Livepods are designed to come loaded with microbes that are tailored for specific-use cases — e.g. nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, crop protection, drought resistance, carbon sequestration, and more. This fresh approach, combined with other species-independent innovative components, aims to be forward compatible with future data-based product personalization, parametrized by individual crop and soil characteristics.

OneOne's initial focus is on developing a Livepod for nitrogen fixation, a roughly $100 billion market. OneOne will work with Ginkgo for in vitro and in planta assays to test OneOne's concept. In a second phase, Ginkgo plans to use its Strain Optimization Services and ultra high throughput encapsulated screening to provide optimized strains for nitrogen fixation. The strains may then progress to field trials and regulatory preparations before commercialization.

"We are building a platform to provide growers with a complete range of microbial solutions beneficial to their crops, soils, and bottom lines. We expect our products to maximize long-term agronomic performance and farmer ROI," said OneOne's founder and CEO, Julien Sylvestre. "We are excited by this strategic partnership with Ginkgo, as we believe they are the only player capable of bringing all the expertise, infrastructure, and experience needed to ensure effective and efficient handling of key lines of our ag biologicals research and product development. We are confident that Ginkgo's comprehensive services can generate valuable strain assets and reduce time-to-market. We look forward to contributing to the ongoing transition from chemicals towards bio-based solutions in the agricultural space, as is happening in other large industries. We expect that, at scale, this transition can and will drive significant net positives for economies and the environment in years to come."

"We're thrilled to assist OneOne in demonstrating their concept and to apply our deep experience with nitrogen fixation as we seek to deliver successful strains for their Livepods," said Magalie Guilhabert, Head of Ag Biologicals, Ginkgo Bioworks. "Our partnership underscores the growing role of synbio in agriculture. We firmly believe ag biologicals represent the future of sustainable, successful agriculture, and we are eager to support innovators like OneOne in entering the market with cutting-edge solutions."

About OneOne

OneOne Biosciences empowers farmers to reduce their reliance on harmful agrochemicals through innovative biosolutions that benefit their crops, their soil and their bottom line. OneOne's proprietary platform technology supports the development and deployment of highly effective microorganisms for crop nutrition, growth stimulation, and crop protection, replacing fertilizers and pesticides — an approximately $200 billion market. Additional applications include climate change mitigation and adaptation. OneOne Biosciences is VC-backed, has a lab in Paris, a subsidiary in the UK, and collaborations globally. The company is poised to become a key player in advancing sustainable agriculture at scale.