Synthetic biology companies engineer biological systems to create new products, processes and capabilities across healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing and environmental applications. The field combines biology, engineering and computational design to reprogram living systems.
This category includes companies working on:
Browse 114 UK synthetic biology companies below.
Microbial biosynthetic pathways for novel biocatalysts and chemicals
ErebaGen is an industrial biotechnology company using engineered microorganisms to discover enzymes and chemistry from specialised microbial metabolism. Its platform activates normally silent biosynthetic gene clusters, combining computational pathway prediction, genetic engineering and high-throughput…
ML-guided strain engineering to optimise precision fermentation yields
Eden Genetics is a biotechnology company using machine learning to improve recombinant protein production through microbial strain engineering. Its computational platform analyses genetic and fermentation data to identify modifications intended to increase protein secretion and productivity in precision-fermentation…
Fermentation-derived aquatic parasite control and microalgal delivery technology
Sundew is a blue biotechnology company developing fermentation-derived products to control aquatic parasites and other ecosystem challenges. Its Biokos extract, produced from a naturally occurring marine microorganism, targets protozoan fish parasites including Ich and Cryptocaryon. Sundew is also developing…
AI-driven enzyme discovery for sustainable industrial ingredients
Scindo is a UK biotechnology company developing an AI-powered enzyme discovery and engineering platform to produce bio-based alternatives to petroleum-derived industrial ingredients. The company combines machine learning with proprietary experimentally validated reaction datasets to discover and optimise enzymes…
Proprietary gene editing tools and strain development services
Forge Genetics is a contract research organisation developing and applying a proprietary gene-editing platform as an alternative to CRISPR-based approaches. The company provides strain development, specialised fermentation including gas fermentation, and metabolite analytics services for pharmaceutical and industrial…
Engineered bacteriophages for precision antimicrobial discovery
BioPhoundry is an engineering biology company developing bacteriophage-based technologies for precision antimicrobial research. Its Phax platform combines machine learning, synthetic biology and cell-free production to accelerate phage discovery and engineering. The company aims to generate tailored phages for…
Generative AI and quantum chemistry platform for de novo enzyme design
Xyme is a biotechnology company developing a generative AI and quantum chemistry platform for designing novel enzymes from first principles. Its approach combines computational prediction with experimental validation to create enzymes that catalyse chemical reactions not found in nature. Applications span therapeutic…
Programmable biological manufacturing of sustainable designer chemicals
Lypo is an Edinburgh-based biotechnology company developing a platform for the programmable manufacture of high-performance chemicals from sustainable and waste-derived feedstocks. The company's designer molecules are being explored across multiple application areas, including cosmetics, polymers, cancer treatment and…
Capacitance-based biomass monitoring instruments for bioprocessing and brewing
Aber Instruments develops and manufactures online probes and instrumentation for real-time viable cell monitoring in bioprocessing and brewing applications. The company's capacitance-based technology measures live cell concentration in fermenters and bioreactors across yeast, bacterial, animal, insect and plant cell…
Computational DNA design for durable genetic medicines
Houdini Bio is an early-stage biotechnology company using computational synthetic biology to redesign DNA for improved performance in genetic medicines. The company is developing approaches to enhance the durability and scalability of gene expression, with potential applications across gene therapies and DNA-based…
Precision fermentation platform producing animal-free dairy proteins
Better Dairy is a biotechnology company using precision fermentation to produce animal-free dairy proteins including casein and osteopontin. By engineering yeast to express mammalian milk proteins, the company produces bioidentical ingredients that enable food manufacturers to make dairy products without livestock.…
Semiconductor biochips and instruments for high-throughput DNA synthesis
LinkZill is a semiconductor technology company developing instruments and consumables for high-throughput DNA synthesis and molecular research. Its thin-film transistor (TFT) biochips use electronic control of electrochemical reactions to manufacture oligonucleotide microarrays and DNA pools. The company supplies…
AI-guided plant biosynthesis platform for novel therapeutic compounds
HotHouse Therapeutics is a drug discovery platform company that engineers plants as sustainable biofactories for pharmaceutical compound production. Using AI to design and optimise biosynthetic pathways, it produces both natural and new-to-nature molecules via transient and stable plant expression systems capable of…
Engineering biology research for pollution removal and resource recovery
Environmental Biotechnology Innovation Centre is a Cranfield University-led research partnership applying engineering biology to environmental monitoring, pollution removal and resource recovery. Its programme develops engineered microorganisms, enzymes, biofilms and biosensors for challenges including PFAS…
Microbial gas fermentation for carbon recycling and renewable fuels
LanzaTech is an industrial biotechnology company developing microbial gas-fermentation technology to convert waste carbon into ethanol and other chemicals. Its platform uses specialised acetogenic bacteria to process industrial off-gases and gasified waste, with applications in fuels, materials and chemical…
Molecular farming platform producing specialty proteins from crop leaves
Kyomei is a biotechnology company developing a molecular farming platform that genetically engineers crop plants to produce high-value specialty proteins in their leaves. The company extracts these proteins from agricultural leaf waste that would otherwise be discarded at harvest. Kyomei's ingredients target food…
Engineered gas fermentation converting industrial CO₂ into ethanol
Phase Biolabs is a Nottingham industrial biotechnology company using engineered microorganisms to convert waste carbon dioxide and hydrogen into ethanol. Its gas-fermentation platform is designed to attach to existing industrial facilities, turning emissions into chemicals and potential electrofuel feedstocks without…
Engineered bacterial protein polymers for cell culture and cultivated meat
MarraBio is a biotechnology company developing engineered Caf1-based protein polymers as xeno-free, thermostable alternatives to extracellular matrix proteins and growth factors used in mammalian cell culture. Its proprietary platform enables scalable, cost-effective production of multifunctional materials that…
Neuroactive therapeutics through genetic engineering of fungi and plants
Empyrean Neuroscience is a biopharma company that uses genetic engineering of fungi and plants to develop small molecule therapeutics for neuropsychiatric and neurologic disorders. Using CRISPR/Cas9 and proprietary transformation technologies, the platform enables precise modulation of neuroactive compound production.…
Synthetic biology platform for sustainable biological textile dyeing
Colorifix is a UK biotechnology company applying synthetic biology to develop a biological dyeing process for the textile industry. The company engineers microorganisms to produce, deposit and fix pigments directly onto fabric, eliminating the need for toxic chemicals and reducing water and energy consumption compared…