Twist Bioscience said today it has acquired Genome Compiler, a developer of software for genetic engineers and molecular and synthetic biologists, for an undisclosed price.

The deal will expand Twist into its first location outside the U.S. as well as enable it to offer an e-commerce solution with gene design capabilities for synthetic and molecular biology experiments.

The e-commerce solution is part of a digital products portfolio using the acquired company’s technology that is expected to be available in the second half of this year, Twist said.

“We intend to build an elegant, intuitive eCommerce solution with a deep pipeline of digital products to follow that will enable our customers to reimagine their research by providing seamless integration of the design and build of their synthetic DNA,” Twist CEO Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., said in a statement.

“Twist’s beta program is progressing well and our first customer shipments are underway,” Dr. Leproust added. “Over the next few months we expect to scale our gene volume substantially, enabling us to offer market-leading production levels by this summer.”

Twist has developed a proprietary semiconductor-based synthetic DNA manufacturing process featuring a 10,000-well silicon platform capable of producing synthetic biology tools, including genes, oligonucleotide pools, and variant libraries.

By synthesizing DNA on silicon instead of on traditional 96-well plastic plates, Twist reasons, its platform can overcome current inefficiencies associated with synthetic DNA production and enable cost-effective, rapid, high-quality, and high-throughput synthetic gene production—with the goal of speeding up the design–build–test cycle for personalized medicines, pharmaceuticals, sustainable chemical production, improved agriculture production, diagnostics, biodetection, and data storage.

Genome Compiler’s R&D center in Israel will become Twist Bioscience’s first international site. Twist said it intends to expand the center in Tel Aviv to advance its digital product and gene design capabilities.

“By combining our advanced software design capabilities with the technology leader in DNA synthesis, our customers will be able to streamline the design-build-test cycle,” added Omri Amirav-Drory, Ph.D., Genome Compiler’s founder and CEO.

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