10:34 AM EDT, 03/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Ginkgo Bioworks ( DNA ) has been awarded a contract worth up to $6 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to help the US military and equipment perform well in extremely cold weather, the cell programming company said Thursday.

Ginkgo said one possible application it may work on will be to biologically create specialty proteins with ice-modulating behaviors to prevent frost from accumulating on a camera lens and other optical equipment, and frostbite protection as well as de-icing.

The company also is expecting to identify proteins using predictive models to narrow the field for materials with specific ice inhibition, induction and low-adhesion properties, it said.

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