PENELOPE MIMETICS

Penelope Mimetics is a research and development partner that is focused on the engineering of improved biological systems for the purposes of industrial manufacturing. They use the tools of synthetic biology to develop technologies to create new monomers and functionalized biosynthetic polymers, additives and treatments for new types of sustainably-derived materials. Penelope Mimetics offers their customers a collaborative infrastructure for research & development that uses synthetic biology to... create new monomers, polymers and their functionalizations based on a partner's design specifications and requirements. Penelope Mimetics provides a multidisciplinary team and R&D pilot facilities. They develop and test a scalable technical pathway for sustainably-sourced monomers, polymers and/or functional additive needs.
 This effort is assisted by new tools. Machine learning algorithms are used to identify new molecules. High-throughput screening (HTS) is used to test new pathways. Pathways are optimized for efficiencies at pilot scale(s). With these tools, they predict and demonstrate material performance. This enables their customers to stay ahead of the curve because synthetic biology and the push for sustainable practices is altering the conventional petrochemical industry. However, the petrochemical industry’s technologies are fully developed and it is difficult to compete with their pricing. New materials can be produced with biological closed loop systems. Companies are making long-term investments in sustainability and their new materials’ efficiencies need to be optimized. Penelope Mimetics' research connects the company with universities and research organizations, working with proprietary and licensed technologies. They will secure additional funding via the National Science Foundation​ within the SBIR/STTR program; Penelope Mimetics has completed a preliminary NSF I-Corps accelerator program at AccelerateDC, which is a part of the George Washington University. The company partners with manufacturers, brands, non-profits and universities in a collaborative process to develop synthetic biology solutions that address industry pain-points related to the growing demand for the safe and efficient use of energy and natural resources as well as the responsible delivery of new industrial products that protect human and environmental health. Accordingly, their research and development projects are focused on the next five to ten years of customer needs in the gradual transition from petroleum-based chemistry manufacturing to industrial biology.More