Viridos teams with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering to scale up technology

In California, Viridos Inc., previously Synthetic Genomics has signed a joint development agreement with ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company with the intent to bring Viridos’ low-carbon intensity biofuels toward commercial levels.

Founded in 2005 by leaders in synthetic biology, Viridos quickly established itself as a powerhouse for innovative research, transplanting the first genome, synthesizing the first bacterial genome and creating the first synthetic cell. In the past few years Viridos’ leadership in engineering microalgae has achieved greater than 5x bio-oil productivity increases by increasing both the oil content in the algae and the algae yield. The results from outdoor deployment of Viridos’ bio-engineered strains in 2020 and 2021 mark the inflection point toward deployment.

These advancements in bioengineering have positioned Viridos to be the leading enterprise in algal technology with the potential to facilitate significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the heavy transportation sector. Viridos’ continued partnership with ExxonMobil seeks to build out the technology and agronomy to enable the commercial launch of Viridos’ low-carbon intensity algae biofuels. In addition to their use in heavy transport, the algae biofuels could be used for aviation, commercial trucking, and maritime shipping. The terms of the renewed partnership with ExxonMobil should enable other interested parties to access and advance the technology to accelerate the deployment of Viridos’ patented technology in pursuit of lowering global GHG emissions.