Case Study

University of Oxford:
Optimizing a new enzymatic assay in just 3 weeks

How the University of Oxford used Synthace DOE to rapidly develop a new biochemical assay, and run experiments previously thought impossible.

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University of Oxford - Interview with Adam

At a glance

10 factors investigated
3 weeks to run 2 experiment iterations and assay validation
0.59 Z' value of optimized assay (n=128)

CHALLENGES

Costly, time-consuming methods

The team at Oxford wanted to develop a new biochemical assay for RecBCD - a DNA-damage repair enzyme that drives antibiotic resistance evolution. But due to the poor economic incentives for commercial antibiotic development, they couldn't justify the time-consuming and costly challenges of traditional biochemical assay optimization, where you change one variable at a time.

There was a growing need for new methodologies that generate information-rich datasets rapidly with reduced resources.

SOLUTION

Automated DOEs with Synthace

The team at Oxford turned to Design of Experiments (DOE)—a robust methodology for investigating multiple variables at a time.

With the Synthace team's DOE expertise, they designed 2 experiments. Then thanks to Synthace's software, despite never having run the assay before, they were able to instantly translate their DOE designs into automation instructions. Then, they used JMP to do an analytical deep-dive.

Results

Identification of key performance factors

After experiment iteration 1 (4 factors): They identified optimal MgCl2:ATP ratios for the assay (enhancing nuclease activity).

After experiment iteration 2 (10 factors): They identified both non impactful and high performance factors using Zʼ as a response.

"This was just such a rewarding way to work and do science, to iterate so rapidly."

Adam Winnifrith
Ex-University of Oxford, Founder of Evolvere Biosciences