Case Study: ZBiotics achieves 100% accurate engineered probiotic development with Twist Bioscience

ZBiotics launches the world’s first engineered probiotic with Twist Bioscience

ZBiotics, a synthetic biology startup, aimed to create the world's first engineered probiotic to help break down acetaldehyde, a toxic byproduct of alcohol metabolism in the gut. Their challenge was to design a safe, effective probiotic with a perfectly accurate synthetic gene, requiring absolute precision in DNA synthesis. They partnered with Twist Bioscience for this critical component.

Twist Bioscience provided 100% accurate synthetic DNA for the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase gene, which was verified by next-generation sequencing. This enabled ZBiotics to engineer a safe, non-colonizing *Bacillus subtilis* strain that successfully broke down acetaldehyde. The result was ZBiotics, a successfully marketed product with compelling customer testimonials, establishing it as the first genetically modified probiotic to hit the market.

ZBiotics