The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has signed a licence agreement withReSyn™ Biosciences(Pty) Ltd, a start-up company formed to exploit the CSIR’s ResynTM bead technology, which produces a range of versatile tools for the life sciences research and development (R&D) market.

ReSyn™ Biosciences (Pty) Ltd is a next generation bio-tools company offering innovative solutions to meet the most stringent R&D requirements. The superior polymer microsphere technology platform enables the development of high-performance microsphere-based solutions for life sciences R&D.

Dr Sean Moolman, CSIR Group Manager: Licensing and Ventures, said: “We are very excited to sign this agreement with ReSyn™ Biosciences (Pty) Ltd. The CSIR is looking to increase its impact in South Africa through licensing of its technology and through supporting new start-up company creation, and this is an excellent example of this effort.

“Internationally, it is well-known that small business and start-up companies in particular are a key contributor to economic growth and job creation. We have put in place a number of initiatives to stimulate and support increased transfer and commercialisation of CSIR technology.”

Such initiatives are an internal seed fund, an entrepreneur-in-residence programme, as well as listing technologies available for licensing on the CSIR’s technology transfer portal.

ReSyn™ is a ‘microsphere technology’. A microsphere is a tiny, artificial bead onto which molecules like DNA and proteins can be attached. The basic approach has been around for a long time, but CSIR researchers and ReSyn™ Biosciences (Pty) Ltd have made some drastic improvements to it.

The first microspheres were solid balls that could bind molecules only on its outer surface. ReSyn™ microspheres are not solid; they are made up of many strands, coiled together like a ball of wool so that molecules can bind on the surface of individual strands. In other words, far more biological molecules can stick to a ReSyn™ bead than other technologies.

Dr Justin Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer of ReSyn™ Biosciences (Pty) Ltd and an inventor of the technology, says that binding more molecules at one time will allow scientists to work much faster than before.

“Such speedy workflow is useful, for example, in fast-tracking the discovery of drugs and identifying specific molecules that are indicative of a disease state. These markers of disease, also referred to as biomarkers, may be used to improve diagnosis,” he says.

For diagnostic application, for instance, antibodies can be bound to the beads. These antibodies are attracted to specific disease-related proteins from the likes of viruses and bacteria. If these disease-causing agents are present in a blood sample, they will bind to the antibodies on the beads and the disease can then be positively diagnosed.

Dr Jordaan says that new diagnostic technologies are planned for the future, but for now they will have a range of R&D off-the-shelf products and custom services offering to target different molecules.

“Typically, it only takes four days to engineer the beads to meet the desired properties for a new application,” he says.

The technology allows researchers to customise unique features of the beads to improve performance, such as maximising the attraction between the beads and the target molecule, advantageous for improving the quality of their research being performed by life scientists.

The beads are not just useful in pharmaceutical research and diagnostics; they can also be used to improve many routine laboratory processes, such as DNA and protein purification, for the purpose of any biological research or even forensics. ReSyn™ microsphere technology can also be applied in industrial processes. For example, enzymes can be permanently attached to the beads for speeding up chemical reactions.

ReSyn™ products have already hit the market with their major focus being on larger US and European markets with the aim to expand worldwide later on. The technology should prove highly competitive as it offers improved performance; is compatible with existing equipment; easy to use and efficient; and further reduces the time of laboratory experimentation.

For more information, please contact:
Tendani Tsedu
CSIR Media Relations Manager
Tel: 012 841 3417
Cell: 082 945 1980
E-mail: mtsedu@csir.co.za

Dr Justin Jordaan
Chief Executive Officer: ReSyn Biosciences (Pty) Ltd
Cell: 083 981 1670 
E-mail: jjordaan@resynbio.com
www.resynbio.com

About the CSIR:
The CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) is one of the leading R&D, technology and innovation institutions in Africa, with a track record spanning over 65 years. Visit www.csir.co.za or call 012 841 2000. The CSIR – our future through science.