Touchlight, in partnership with New England Biolabs, has unveiled the EnClose Cell-free dbDNA Synthesis Kit, a benchtop solution designed to speed the production of Touchlight’s proprietary doggybone DNA (dbDNA). 

 

This linear, covalently closed, double-stranded DNA offers a rapid, cell-free alternative to traditional plasmid DNA, addressing a critical bottleneck in nucleic acid therapeutics development.

 

Traditional plasmid manufacturing often involves complex bacterial fermentation and long lead times, slowing the path to advanced therapies. 

 

Ashley Luck, Associate Director of Applications and Development at NEB, explains the impact: “Traditional plasmid DNA manufacturing is a significant bottleneck in Advanced Therapies development, often requiring large-scale fermentation, cell banking, and long lead times that can slow the path to the clinic. 

 

"We’re thrilled to offer a cell-free alternative that allows researchers to bypass these complex bacterial processes. This kit enables the rapid screening and production of high-purity DNA templates right at the benchtop, cutting months off the development timeline for mRNA vaccines and gene therapies.”

 

The EnClose kit combines NEB’s enzymatic expertise with Touchlight’s dbDNA platform, enabling high-yield production of closed-ended DNA in a single day. 

 

Free from bacterial sequences and antibiotic resistance genes, dbDNA aligns with regulatory requirements and enhances safety, supporting applications in AAV and lentiviral vector production, nonviral gene therapy, mRNA therapeutics, and gene editing. Its enzymatic synthesis also allows constructs that are difficult to produce in bacteria, such as long poly(A) tails and viral inverted terminal repeats.

 

Tommy Duncan, Chief Business Officer at Touchlight, emphasizes the importance of broad access: “Collaborating with NEB allows us to significantly broaden the accessibility of our technology, putting it directly and easily into the hands of researchers for the first time. 

 

"By combining our proprietary dbDNA technology with NEB’s expertise in enzymology, we’ve optimized a workflow that allows scientists to screen constructs and prototype high-throughput designs rapidly, before moving on to larger-scale manufacturing.”

 

This launch complements ongoing efforts from both companies to accelerate RNA and DNA-based medicines from research through clinical translation.