bit-QED

bit-QED is bitBiome's custom bioinformatics and AI-driven platform for enzyme discovery, enzyme engineering, and strain engineering. Designed for organisations seeking dramatic improvements in accuracy while reducing time and cost, it is backed by a multidisciplinary team of bioinformaticians, cheminformaticians, wet lab experts, and fermentation specialists. The platform draws on bitBiome's vast proprietary database to find, assay, and improve enzymes and metabolic pathways tailored to precise client requirements.

At its core, bit-QED combines sequence-based and structure-based target enzyme screening to identify a short list of highly probable candidates within weeks. Enzymes are then customised entirely in silico using structural modelling integrated with machine learning and large language models, before being validated through automated high-throughput wet lab screening — creating an iterative cycle that becomes smarter and more precise with every round.

Enzyme Discovery and Engineering Capabilities

• Sequence and structure-based target enzyme screening to rapidly narrow candidate lists
• In silico enzyme customisation using structural modelling combined with machine learning and large language models
• Identification of relevant amino acid substitutions that influence enzyme activity and optimise performance
• Iterative cycles of generating diverse mutants in silico followed by automated wet lab enzyme screening
• High-throughput screening of variants to confirm intended functional changes

Strain Engineering Platform

• Programmable, automated strain engineering designed to maximise productivity and support commercial scale-up
• Rapid prediction and identification of optimal edits for custom metabolic rewiring, protein expression, and target ingredient production
• Screening through collections of targeted edits to create the optimal strain for commercial-scale manufacturing
• Whole genome-wide strain engineering for optimised enzymes, pathways, and ingredients
• Seamless integration of enzyme and pathway customisation with targeted strain modification technologies

Key Performance Metrics

• Reduces a conventional 2–3 year process to months or even weeks
• More than 500× faster 3D structure analysis compared to Google AlphaFold2
• 24-hour bioinformatics results turnaround
• 75% reduction in time to enzyme result
• Up to 75% cost reduction compared to conventional methods

Workflow and Applications

• Covers the full biomanufacturing workflow from discovery through to commercial production, positioning bitBiome as a one-stop-shop partner
• Skilled bioinformaticians and cheminformaticians leverage both conventional and proprietary computational models
• Applicable across diverse sectors, including drug biomanufacturing (e.g. transaminase enzyme engineering via ancestral sequence reconstruction) and materials and textiles (e.g. maximising PETase enzyme performance for plastic alternatives)

bit-QED is delivered through a combined in silico and wet lab approach, enabling clients across life sciences, pharmaceuticals, and industrial biotechnology to accelerate enzyme and strain development at significantly reduced cost and timeline compared to traditional methods.