Biofoundries are high-throughput robotic bioengineering platforms that make it possible to accelerate synthetic biology projects, both for fundamental research aimed at better understanding living systems through construction, and for technological development and innovation.

The Paris Biofoundry (PBF), the first academic biofoundry in France, is a unique distributed biofoundry in Europe, spread across four sites in the Île-de-France region (Sorbonne University, Institut Curie, Institut Micalis, Genopole). PBF provides laboratories and companies with access to cutting-edge technologies required to accelerate fundamental research, applied and translational research, industrial development, and innovation in Île-de-France, with the ambition of structuring the living-systems engineering sector at both regional and national levels.

The multisite organization of PBF (see below) enables it to better address the needs of the field by offering engineering capabilities across multiple biological chassis (bacteria, yeasts, microalgae, mammalian cells, human cells, and cell-free systems). It supports multiple uses for academic and industrial research, as well as innovation across a wide range of domains—from health to energy, materials, and the environment—and extends to scale-up activities and industrial contractualization.

Within the framework of a Sésame Filières France 2030 program, co-funded by the French State and the Île-de-France Region, PBF will co-finance exploratory projects covering 50% of the total project budget (up to €50,000 funded by PBF plus an equivalent contribution from the project leader). Project leaders will not receive funding directly; instead, projects carried out at PBF will be supported through coverage of 50% of their costs. Experimental work for selected projects will benefit from the involvement of dedicated research engineers.

Alliance Sorbonne Université Biofoundry – Pierre and Marie Curie Campus (Jussieu), Paris

This integrated biofoundry performs the full DBTL (Design–Build–Test–Learn) cycle on model heterotrophic microorganisms (E. coli, S. cerevisiae) as well as autotrophic organisms (microalgae). The site hosts the infrastructure required for DNA construction (DNA foundry) for all PBF sites and for the maintenance of DNA parts collections (DNA repository). An engineering and phenotyping platform (Microbe Foundry, proteomics and metabolomics platforms) supports the development of both fundamental and applied research projects using model microorganisms.

Curie Biofoundry – Institut Curie, Paris

The Curie Biofoundry is developing infrastructure dedicated to mammalian cell engineering, relying on the BMBC technical platform of the Physics Laboratory (UMR168) for the design and construction phases, and on the BioPhenics platform—a robotic cell screening platform—for the characterization stages. Through automated cell culture and screening processes, the Institut Curie site enables PBF to develop innovative synthetic biology programs focused on mammalian cell engineering and the use of bacteria for therapeutic purposes.

GATEx Industrial Biofoundry – Genopole Biocluster, Évry-Courcouronnes

This biofoundry is dedicated to validating strain (aerobic bacteria and yeasts) and substrate screening, and to demonstrating the industrial viability of academic and startup projects under development in the fields of bioeconomy and health. It hosts the full infrastructure required for scale-up, which is essential for increasing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of bioengineering projects. The platform focuses on industrially relevant chassis (bacteria and yeasts) and enables bioproduction (USP/DSP) through fermentation up to 20 liters. Within PBF, it supports the advancement of synthetic biology projects toward the industrial demonstrator stage and acts as an interface for industrial engagement and pre-contractualization for very large-scale bioproduction.

Cell-Free Biofoundry – INRAE, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay

The Cell-Free (CF) Biofoundry of the Micalis Institute (https://www.micalis.fr/equipe/cell-free/) is dedicated to the production and functional screening of enzymes and therapeutic proteins, as well as to the detection of biomarkers (clinical or environmental) using transcriptional and translational devices. To optimize the productivity of cell-free systems and reduce batch-to-batch variability, the biofoundry standardizes extract preparation by identifying optimal compositions of energy buffers and genetic material, in order to maximize transcription and translation processes from linear or plasmid DNA. Capable of working with E. coli cell extracts as well as other sources (purified components, bacteria, yeasts, and mammalian systems), the CF biofoundry employs advanced AI methods such as active learning and reinforcement learning to maximize batch reproducibility and optimize transcription processes.

More information on the Paris Biofoundry: https://parisbiofoundry.org

This scientific call for projects from the Paris Biofoundry is open from December 1, 2025 to February 20, 2026, with project activities starting as early as June 2026. The call is supported by an estimated total budget of approximately €430,000, including €250,000 for consumables and €180,000 for dedicated research engineers.

Projects must involve a synthetic biology approach aligned with at least one of the following four thematic axes of the Paris Biofoundry:

1. High-throughput DNA part synthesis and plasmid assembly (96-well plates, MoClo technology)

2. Engineering of living systems: genetic modifications, genotyping, and phenotyping (FACS, microscopy, fluorescence, proteomics, metabolomics) of PBF chassis (or closely related species)

3. Cell-free engineering: screening, bioproduction, biosensing (cell extracts or PURE systems)

4. Scale-up testing of biological production (from liter scale to tens of liters)

Only one application per principal investigator may be submitted for project funding. The amount of funding awarded by the Paris Biofoundry represents a maximum amount.

Reminder: These exploratory projects are co-funded at 50% of the total budget (up to €50,000 from PBF plus an equivalent contribution from the project leader).