Ginkgo Bioworks Partners with Carnegie-Mellon University to Develop Innovative New Cancer Screening Approach

Ginkgo Bioworks Partners with Carnegie-Mellon University to Develop Innovative New Cancer Screening Approach

BOSTON, Dec. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) today announced its partnership with Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) for an award by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) for its POSEIDON program (Platform Optimizing SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology). With Ginkgo Bioworks serving as the Commercial Partner, the project will also be led by Rebecca Taylor (principal investigator), professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. 

Combining recent advancements in synthetic biology with cutting-edge detection technology, the team expects to develop both a highly innovative orally administered pill containing specially engineered, tumor-targeting sensors and a user-friendly cancer screening device designed for at-home testing. As part of this team, Ginkgo plans to apply its cell and enzyme engineering expertise to support development of these new diagnostic tools.

Using a combination of synthetic biology and nucleic acid nanotechnology, the pill's specially engineered, tumor-targeting sensors aim to detect tumor-specific conditions, such as low oxygen, acidity, and lactate—hallmarks of cancer. The sensors will then release reporters to indicate the presence of a tumor and its specific tissue of origin. Synthetic reporters will then be excreted into urine to collect the results.

"Our dual-function approach is designed to provide an unprecedented level of precision, effectively illuminating hidden tumors from within the body, which then signals the presence of disease through a simple urine test," explained Taylor. "This is a scientific leap forward that we believe will profoundly change how we approach early cancer diagnostics."

"We are truly excited to get to support this effort," said Jesse Dill, Government BD Lead at Ginkgo Bioworks. "This type of interdisciplinary teaming, and ambitious vision, are essential for bringing transformative new diagnostics to the market. We hope that patients and doctors will be empowered to make well-informed decisions, to the benefit of all."

In addition to Carnegie Mellon researchers, the multidisciplinary project team includes academic experts from the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and KU Leuven, as well as corporate partners at Ginkgo Bioworks, Velentium Medical, Clinical Research Strategies, and Platypus Bio.

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About Ginkgo Bioworks

Ginkgo Bioworks builds the tools that make biology easier to engineer for everyone. Ginkgo R&D Solutions delivers customizable R&D packages—such as protein engineering, nucleic acid design, and cell-free systems—giving partners a comprehensive way to accelerate innovation across therapeutics, diagnostics, & manufacturing. Ginkgo Automation sells modular, integrated laboratory automation so scientists can spend their days planning and analyzing experiments rather than pipetting in the lab. Ginkgo Datapoints uses Ginkgo's in-house automation to generate the large lab data sets to power your AI models. Ginkgo Biosecurity is building and deploying the next-generation infrastructure and technologies that global leaders need to predict, detect, and respond to a wide variety of biological threats. For more information, visit ginkgobioworks.com and ginkgobiosecurity.com, read our blog, or follow us on social media channels such as X (@Ginkgo and @Ginkgo_Biosec), Instagram (@GinkgoBioworks), Threads (@GinkgoBioworks), or LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the capabilities and potential success of the partnership and Ginkgo's cell programming platform. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project," "potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: (i) our ability to realize near-term and long-term cost savings associated with our site consolidation plans, including the ability to terminate leases or find sub-lease tenants for unused facilities, (ii) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities due to a variety of factors, including changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance across competitors, and changes in laws and regulations affecting Ginkgo's business, (iii) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and to identify and realize additional business opportunities, including with respect to our solutions and tools offerings, (iv) the risk of downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (v) the uncertainty regarding the demand for passive monitoring programs and biosecurity services, (vi) changes to the biosecurity industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and regulations, (vii) the outcome of any pending or potential legal proceedings against Ginkgo, (viii) our ability to realize the expected benefits from and the success of our Foundry platform programs and Codebase assets, (ix) our ability to successfully develop engineered cells, bioprocesses, data packages or other deliverables, (x) the product development, production or manufacturing success of our customers, (xi) our exposure to the volatility and liquidity risks inherent in holding equity interests in other operating companies and other non-cash consideration we may receive for our services, (xii) the potential negative impact on our business of our restructuring or the failure to realize the anticipated savings associated therewith and (xiii) the uncertainty regarding government budgetary priorities and funding allocated to government agencies. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of Ginkgo's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 25, 2025 and other documents filed by Ginkgo from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.

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