Scalable Avian Cell-Free Protein Expression Platform for High-Throughput Protein Screening

Overview

Novel Farms is developing a scalable, avian-derived cell-free protein expression platform for rapid, high-throughput protein screening. The platform leverages proprietary suspension-adapted chicken cells that grow quickly in serum-free media and reach high densities in stirred-tank bioreactors, providing an economical and reproducible source of biomass for lysate production. Because avian cells offer a distinct eukaryotic expression background, this approach may complement or improve upon mammalian cell-free systems, potentially offering different translation regulation and efficiency characteristics. The goal is to enable cost-effective parallel screening of thousands of protein variants using standardized lysate batches in miniaturized fluorescence-based assays.

Technical specifications

How it works:

• Proprietary suspension-adapted chicken cell lines are expanded in serum-free media and stirred-tank bioreactors to produce consistent, scalable biomass.
• Cell lysates are prepared from these avian cells to create cell-free protein expression reactions capable of translating messenger RNA (mRNA) into protein.
• The system supports translation of synthetic mRNA, such as GFP, and is being optimized for reaction formulation and mRNA stability.
• Compatibility with 96- and 384-well microplate formats enables high-throughput screening using automated fluorescence plate readers.

Key benefits:

• Economical large-scale lysate production from fast-growing, high-density avian suspension cells.
• Standardized lysate batches designed to reduce batch-to-batch variability.
• A eukaryotic expression platform distinct from mammalian lysates, potentially broadening the range of proteins that can be screened efficiently.
• Rapid, parallel screening of thousands of protein variants to support protein engineering and functional genomics.

Technology readiness level

The platform is in early-stage development, with feasibility and proof-of-concept validation planned. Current capabilities include validated bioreactor growth of the avian suspension cell lines; cell-free expression from avian lysates has not yet been demonstrated and is the focus of the proposed three-month study. Planned validation covers lysate preparation and translation of synthetic GFP mRNA, optimization of translation yield and reproducibility, and a high-throughput demonstration in 96- and 384-well plates using a fluorescent protein variant library. Successful completion would establish performance benchmarks, optimized protocols, and a development roadmap toward a commercial screening platform.