Exploring Opportunities as Oregon’s Life Science Industry Expands Its Synthetic Biology Capabilities

As part of the Oregon Bio 2025 Annual Conference and Innovation Showcase, Oregon Life Sciences convened industry leaders, researchers, and economic development partners for a strategy session focused on one question: How can Oregon scale its emerging synthetic biology capabilities into a globally competitive bioeconomy?

A core pillar of Oregon Life Sciences is advancing regional growth through targeted economic development and cross-sector collaboration. "At present, Oregon’s bio ecosystem hosts an emerging synthetic biology bioeconomy anchored by several key players across multiple application platforms" said Liisa Bozinovic, Executive Director of Oregon Life Sciences (formerly the Oregon Bioscience Association).

The Oxford Dictionary defines “bioeconomy” as an economic system in which biotechnology plays a principal role, or one centered on the production and utilization of renewable resources based on biological organisms and processes. In practice, synthetic biology (synbio) represents one of the most transformative pathways for building that future.

An Emerging Synbio Landscape with Strong Regional Assets

Across Oregon and southwest Washington, a growing mix of early- to mid-stage startups, flagship companies such as Absci, Twist Bioscience, SynPlexity, and Novel Bio, and advanced university research centers form the foundation of this nascent cluster. Regional strengths include:
•    DNA design, manufacturing, and assembly
•    Large-scale and commercial gene synthesis
•    Protein engineering and high-throughput variant screening
•    Genetic code expansion
•    High-throughput animal model creation
•    Microbe strain engineering
•    Novel pharmaceutical development and drug delivery
•    Specialized research infrastructure
•    Bioscience workforce training and talent pipelines

These assets already support innovation across health care, agriculture, clean energy, forestry, materials science, and environmental applications.

A Cross-Sector Discussion

Participants in the workshop represented a broad cross-section of the life science ecosystem: platform companies, biomanufacturing firms, applied biotech companies, university research centers, and partners such as ONAMI, Business Oregon, OTRADI/OBI, Greater Portland Inc., DJK BioConsult, Miller Nash, and Portland Community College, which represented bioscience workforce programs.

Craig Stolarczyk, CEO of University of Oregon spinout SynPlexity, highlighted what startups need to grow in Oregon, “These critical assets are operational needs including affordable lab space, core facilities, support institutes, and public-facing convening mechanisms.”

Shula Jaron, ONAMI Entrepreneur-in-Residence and session co-organizer, noted the importance of clarity and focus, “Defining Oregon’s version of synbio and tying it to other important statewide initiatives such as those around mass timber is how we attract the right partners and capital and make this durable for the state.”

Academic Leadership and Statewide Infrastructure

Oregon’s universities play a central role in advancing synthetic biology. Ryan Mehl, Ph.D., professor in OSU’s Biochemistry and Biophysics department and director of the Mehl Lab and the GCE4All Research Center, is pioneering genetic code expansion (GCE) technologies with broad applications.

Asked how his lab’s work could help accelerate the statewide synbio ecosystem, Mehl said:
“GCE4All represents a fully functional example of synthetic biology in practice. This core capability provides a universal molecular ‘plug-in’ that connects diverse fields of synthetic biology.”

Mehl added that Oregon already has the beginnings of statewide infrastructure: shared equipment, open-source tools, and hands-on workshops uniting students, startups, and industry, and he emphasized,
“What we need is a formal mechanism in Oregon to stitch together the diverse technology developing on individual nodes to accelerate Oregon’s position in syn bio.”

Industry Perspective: What It Takes to Scale

Twist Bioscience, with major operations in Wilsonville, synthesizes DNA at scale for applications across agriculture, food production, human and animal therapeutics, diagnostics, and precision medicine.

Angela Bitting, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Twist Bioscience and Oregon Life Sciences board member, underscored the company’s role and ecosystem needs,“We can provide many important products for labs, companies, and institutions of all sizes that fuel their innovative research—from clonal genes and gene fragments to antibody proteins to data characterization and antibody discovery partnerships.”

Bitting also highlighted the infrastructure and capital gaps facing the region,“The technology may be here—and there are some robust incubators—but the area needs additional investment for startups, a ready pool of capital, and logistics infrastructure including cold-chain shipping internationally seven days a week.”

On workforce needs, Bitting noted,“We need the right talent—protein engineers, specialists, skilled automation operators—as well as more customers and strong partnerships with educational organizations.”

Opportunities and Gaps in Building a High-Performing Synbio Cluster

Pre-session survey findings reinforced key challenges to scaling the cluster:
•    Access to capital
•    Visibility and supportive policy
•    Availability of specialized facilities
•    Talent recruitment and retention
•    Customer acquisition and partnerships
•    Limited automation, microfluidics, and computational infrastructure

The region also faces a smaller venture capital pool, less specialized manufacturing infrastructure than established hubs, and the need for stronger long-term government–industry collaboration.

Looking Ahead: A Path Toward a Durable, Competitive Cluster

The path forward is clear: Oregon has significant momentum, expanding capabilities, and a uniquely collaborative ecosystem. Yet turning these assets into a globally competitive synthetic biology cluster requires coordinated action.

Stolarczyk summed it up succinctly: startups need “a capable talent base and access to high-quality oligonucleotide pools,” but integrated automation and computational infrastructure remain real constraints.
Jaron noted that the session brought together the right mix of companies, universities, and public partners—and that “we’ll keep widening the circle to include more of the ecosystem in further conversations.”

A well-structured synthetic biology cluster has the potential to:
•    Accelerate regional innovation
•    Create high-value jobs
•    Expand STEM education pathways
•    Enable sustainable industrial transformation
•    Strengthen university–industry collaboration
•    Attract private investment and global partnerships

With sustained commitment, strategic investment, and cross-sector alignment, Oregon is exceptionally well-positioned to build a resilient, innovation-driven synthetic biology economy.

And based on the momentum in the room at the Oregon Bio 2025 Conference, that work is already underway.