PartitionBio

The past decade has seen an explosion of scientific insight into the significance of membraneless organelles (MLOs) for cellular physiology and organisation, both in health and disease. Dysfunctions associated with MLOs include neurodegenerative diseases, cancers and viral infections. This silent revolution in cell biology has been accompanied and accelerated by an emerging understanding of the biophysical mechanism underlying the formation of MLOs, in particular the role of liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) of biomolecules.

Niall Armes PhD, is the scientific founder of PartitionBio. In previous ventures, TwistDx and Biocrucible he has pioneered the exploitation of LLPS-dependent biomolecular condensates (BMC) for the acceleration of enzyme kinetics in in vitro reaction systems, particularly for the building of DNA amplification machines using disordered protein engineering solutions. Dr Armes and co-workers will apply their insight to the therapeutic opportunities emerging in the disruptive field of biopolymer phase separation in live cell systems.

The team of scientists at PartitionBio combines expertise in a range of biomedically relevant areas, including protein-engineering and condensate biology, as well as medicinal chemistry and high-throughput microscopy screening. The company’s mission is to deploy this know-how and the emerging understanding of LLPS to develop therapeutic solutions for condensate-associated diseases and innovative tools for synthetic biology applications.