Interview with Daniel Giguere – Flow Genomics Founder

Flow Genomics is accelerating Canadian biotechnology with ultrafast genomic services.

See how they're increasing iteration speed for synthetic biologists.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and what Flow Genomics does?

Flow Genomics is an application-focused biotech service company built to accelerate Canadian biotechnology with ultra-fast DNA sequencing. We started with overnight plasmid sequencing for biological engineers, and we're now expanding into other applications where the standard turnaround time is too slow — we’re accelerating microbiome sequencing, whole-genome sequencing, and more. We deliver these fast turnarounds through our coast-to-coast network of dropboxes across Canada, handling the logistics of getting samples to our lab as quickly as possible. With modern, easy-to-interpret analyses included, our mission is to eliminate the wait time between iterations.

What originally drew you into the world of synthetic biology?

Synthetic biology is an entirely new platform with endless possibilities — whether that's bioremediation of problems humans have caused or therapeutics that treat or cure diseases worldwide. Biology has evolved over millions of years to solve problems we can't crack with chemistry or computing; even with all the GPU power in the world, nature often gives us a starting point to evolve further for a specific application. To me, it's both fascinating and exhilarating that we can take those millions of years of evolution as a foundation and advance it in directions that solve global problems. I want to be part of that.

What makes synthetic biology the right foundation for Flow Genomics?

Our mission is to accelerate Canadian biotechnology to a globally competitive speed. Synthetic biology needs fast iteration times to get products to market, and DNA sequencing has traditionally been a chokepoint. That's exactly what our foundational plasmid sequencing service solves: leave your samples in the dropbox at the end of the day, and wake up to results the next morning. Your programs can advance on a daily cadence instead of a weekly one — and faster iterations mean you reach the next challenge that much sooner.

What kinds of applications or breakthroughs do you think your technology enables?

Our technology stack has three layers: hardware, biology, and software. We use the latest automation systems to connect them and our continuous push to optimize each step, we deliver high-quality, interpretable results in less than two hours after samples arrive at our facility. We think our platform will help customers solve their problems faster — whether that's engineering proteins for applications like biodegradation of toxic chemicals, or creating therapeutics that help real people through difficult moments in the clinic. We're already seeing this in the daily design-build-test iterations our customers run.

What do you want to see in the field of synthetic biology in Canada (ex: gaps, challenges and/or trends...)?

One big trend we've seen is Canadian talent training here, then leaving to work in synthetic biology abroad. Our bet is that by building the core infrastructure needed to advance synthetic biology programs at a globally competitive speed, we help convince more Canadians to stay, build their companies here, and strengthen the community. We're already seeing that momentum with organizations like SynBio Canada. Just as top-tier companies are building synthetic biology infrastructure south of the border, we can do it here — and solve our own unique problems along the way.

Will you be attending the SynBio 8.0 conference?

Yes, Flow Genomics will be there!

Interviewer: Caitlin Oh