SAN DIEGO, CA. — March 8, 2017— Molecular Assemblies Inc., a company developing a proprietary enzymatic DNA synthesis technology designed to power the next generation of DNA-based products, today announced that it has appointed Floyd E. Romesberg, PhD, a renowned scientist and professor of chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute, to its scientific advisory board.
“We are extremely honored to have Dr. Romesberg join our team, as we build a world-class group of thought leaders to help us advance our enzymatic approach to DNA synthesis,” said Molecular Assemblies President and CEO Mike Kamdar. “Dr. Romesberg’s experience and guidance will be of great benefit as we advance our groundbreaking technology.”
Dr. Romesberg has managed a research group at The Scripps Research Institute since 1998. His group uses a broad range of techniques, including non-linear optical spectroscopy, organic chemistry, microbiology, and genetics, to study different aspects of evolution. This work has been described in more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Romesberg is best known for developing unnatural base pairs for the expansion of the genetic alphabet and is also working to develop novel antibiotics, as well as to understand how evolution tailors protein dynamics and how cellular stress and DNA damage induce cell-cycle checkpoint responses and mutations. In January, The Scripps Research Institute announced that Dr. Romesberg and his team had developed the first stable semisynthetic organism, engineered for the stable expansion of the genetic alphabet. Their research was published online ahead of print in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to his work at The Scripps Research Institute, Dr. Romesberg is the scientific founder and a member of the board of directors of Synthorx. Prior to Synthorx, he served as the scientific co-founder and a member of the board of directors of RQx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Genentech) and Achaogen. Dr. Romesberg received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from The Ohio State University and a doctorate in physical organic chemistry from Cornell University.
“Molecular Assemblies’ enzymatic approach to DNA synthesis has the potential to significantly advance our ability to develop long, high-quality strands of DNA cost effectively, enabling us to achieve scientific breakthroughs more rapidly,” Dr. Romesberg said. “I’m very pleased to be collaborating with Molecular Assemblies to further develop this exciting technology.”
Molecular Assemblies Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder J. William Efcavitch added, “Dr. Romesberg’s internationally recognized expertise in non-natural nucleotides and their interaction with DNA polymerases will be of immense value to Molecular Assemblies, and we look forward to his contributions.”
About Molecular Assemblies
Molecular Assemblies, Inc. is a San Diego-based company focused on developing an enzymatic DNA synthesis technology designed to power the next generation of DNA-based products. The company’s patented enzymatic method, based on making DNA the way nature makes DNA, produces long, high quality, sequence-specific DNA reliably, affordably and sustainably. Molecular Assemblies’ technology will enable the reading and writing of DNA for industries including industrial synthetic biology and precision medicine, as well as emerging applications of DNA for data information storage, nanomachines and bio-based electronics.
