Launched today (14th February) LS9 Inc. is pursuing industrial
applications of synthetic biology to produce proprietary biofuels. LS9's
products, currently under development, are designed to closely resemble
petroleum derived fuels, but be renewable, clean, domestically produced,
and cost competitive. In addition to biofuels, LS9 will also develop
industrial biochemicals for specialty applications.
LS9 Inc. is developing Renewable Petroleum™ biofuels through work
pioneered by scientific founders Chris Somerville, Director of the
Carnegie Institution and Professor of Plant Biology at Stanford
University, and George Church, Director of the MIT-Harvard US-Dept. of
Energy GTL Center and Professor of Genetics at Harvard along with
venture founders Flagship Ventures and Khosla Ventures. In addition, the
company relies upon a distinguished scientific advisory board including
leaders in the fields of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering,
microbiology, enzymology, genomics, bioinformatics, and chemical
engineering.
"Thanks to rapid advances in industrial biotechnology and synthetic
biology along with the strength and talent of our scientific team, LS9
is uniquely suited to design, develop, and commercialize the next
generation of biofuels," said Dr. Somerville. "We have looked to nature
to identify the required biological tools, redesigned them to function
under industrial conditions, and are optimizing their performance to
meet our economic objectives," added Dr. Church.
"Novel solutions are required to address the energy crisis. LS9
represents a new frontier in our venture creation activities, combining
breakthrough scientific work with a strong market orientation," said
Noubar Afeyan, Managing Partner and CEO of Flagship Ventures.
Since 2005, the company has quietly but aggressively pursued a highly
focused research and development plan and amassed an extensive
technology and intellectual property portfolio for the production of
Renewable Petroleum™ biofuels.
Doug Cameron, former head of biotechnology research at Cargill and
acting Chief Executive Officer of LS9 Inc., said the advances stand to
change the dynamics of the fuel market.
"LS9 is pursuing a disruptive technology in a large established market,"
Dr. Cameron said. "Our rate of scientific progress is a testament to the
quality of the team we have assembled at LS9."
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