The report, "Caring at Ginkgo," outlines the
company's approach to sustainability, internal governance
structures, and how its cell engineering platform is
deployed
BOSTON, July 14,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE:
DNA), the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, today
published its inaugural Sustainability Report. The report
highlights the company's vision for and approach to sustainability,
includes case studies across its ecosystem, and reports data
according to leading environmental, social, and governance ("ESG")
frameworks.
"Ginkgo is building a horizontal platform for programming cells
across organisms in any market and in the process, we're trying to
address some of our most difficult environmental and societal
challenges," said Jason Kelly, CEO
and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks. "Engineers often say that
technology is neutral; however, we believe that we cannot remain
neutral when it comes to the use of biotechnology. We care how our
platform is used and about the impact it has on the world."
Ginkgo's inaugural Sustainability Report shares the company's
perspectives across three main sections: "The Impact of Cell
Programming", which describes how Ginkgo seeks to prioritize
environmental stewardship throughout its operations and programs;
"Technology isn't Neutral", which sets out Ginkgo's views on its
role in society and in its community; and "Ownership is the First
Step in Caring", which outlines Ginkgo's governance structures and
commitment to worker ownership. The report was guided by key ESG
frameworks and standards, as well as a third-party led materiality
assessment informed by stakeholder engagement.
"Making biology easier to engineer requires working on not just
the technical aspects of programming DNA, but also on how we build
our culture, our governance, and our ecosystem," said Christina Agapakis, Head of the Sociotechnical
Studio at Ginkgo Bioworks. "This is our first sustainability report
as a public company, bringing together the environmental impact,
social context, and governance of synthetic biology under our
framework for caring how our platform is used. We look forward to
sharing our progress and continuing the conversation about the
impacts and implications of synthetic biology, because a future
where we can grow everything requires care, transparency,
and many voices."
One core focus of Ginkgo's ESG framework involves the use of its
cell programming platform to positively impact the environment. In
recent years, companies have increasingly looked to synthetic
biology to reduce emissions and reliance on limited natural
resources. Ginkgo's platform has supported a variety of companies
and initiatives involved in the development of climate tech,
including:
- Genomatica, which is seeking to accelerate the world's
transformation to sustainable materials by replacing fossil fuel
sources with plants;
- Joyn Bio and Bayer, which are
developing engineered microbes to provide nitrogen for crops to
significantly reduce the need for synthetic fertilizer;
- Motif Foodworks, which is developing proteins and molecules
that make plant-based protein more delicious and contribute to more
sustainable food systems; and
- Allonnia, which is developing enzymes that degrade harmful
plastics and other environmental toxins.
Moving forward, Ginkgo plans to regularly assess its own
sustainability impact, working alongside third parties to
facilitate the development and availability of evaluation tools
useful for the broader bioeconomy ecosystem.
About Ginkgo Bioworks
Ginkgo is building a platform to
enable customers to program cells as easily as we can program
computers. The company's platform is enabling biotechnology
applications across diverse markets, from food and agriculture to
industrial chemicals to pharmaceuticals. Ginkgo has also actively
supported a number of COVID-19 response efforts, including K-12
pooled testing, vaccine manufacturing optimization and therapeutics
discovery. For more information, visit www.ginkgobioworks.com.
Forward-Looking Statements of Ginkgo Bioworks
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including
statements regarding the potential success of Ginkgo's cell
programming platform and its planned development of sustainability
impact evaluation tools. These forward-looking statements generally
are identified by the words "believe," "can," "project,"
"potential," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend,"
"strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should,"
"will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result,"
and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are
predictions, projections and other statements about future events
that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a
result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could
cause actual future events to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not
limited to: (i) the effect of Ginkgo's business combination with
Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. ("Soaring Eagle") on Ginkgo's
business relationships, performance, and business generally, (ii)
risks that the business combination disrupts current plans of
Ginkgo and potential difficulties in Ginkgo's employee retention,
(iii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted
against Ginkgo related to its business combination with Soaring
Eagle, (iv) volatility in the price of Ginkgo's securities now that
it is a public company due to a variety of factors, including
changes in the competitive and highly regulated industries in which
Ginkgo operates and plans to operate, variations in performance
across competitors, changes in laws and regulations affecting
Ginkgo's business and changes in the combined capital structure,
(v) the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other
expectations after the completion of the business combination, and
identify and realize additional opportunities, (vi) the risk of
downturns in demand for products using synthetic biology, (vii) the
unpredictability of the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
demand for COVID-19 testing and the commercial viability of our
COVID-19 testing business, and (viii) changes to the biosecurity
industry, including due to advancements in technology, emerging
competition and evolution in industry demands, standards and
regulations. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You
should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks
and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of
Ginkgo's quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 16, 2022 and other documents filed by Ginkgo
from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address
other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
events and results to differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put
undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Ginkgo assumes no
obligation and does not intend to update or revise these
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise. Ginkgo does not give any assurance
that it will achieve its expectations.
GINKGO BIOWORKS INVESTOR CONTACT:
investors@ginkgobioworks.com
GINKGO BIOWORKS MEDIA
CONTACT:
press@ginkgobioworks.com
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