The main idea of the ERC PoC project Sequence Barcodes was to use synthetic polymers containing regulated sequences of monomers as molecular barcodes for product identification, for example for traceability applications or anti-counterfeiting technologies. In general, polymers (or plastics) are ill-defined materials, in which all molecules are somehow slightly different (such materials are also called polydisperse or non-uniform polymers). In particular, synthetic polymers usually do not contain ordered sequences of monomers like biopolymers, such as proteins and DNA, do. However, a few years ago, our group has studied new methods for regulating monomer sequences in synthetic polymers in the frame of an ERC StG project entitled SEQUENCES. In particular, our group has discovered efficient approaches for “writing” and “reading” molecular codes in synthetic polymers. In such approaches, the monomers are attached one-by-one to another using simple and efficient chemical reactions. Therefore, a perfectly sequence-defined polymer can be created in these approaches. In such polymers, all molecules are similar (such materials are also called monodisperse or uniform polymers). Furthermore, by using different types of monomers, a molecular alphabet can be defined and information strings can be literally "written" in the polymer chains. For example, digital information can be written using two monomers defined as a binary alphabet. Of course, more complex codes can also be created using three (ternary alphabet), four (quaternary alphabet) or more monomers. Furthermore, the information stored in the polymer molecules can be "read" using an analytical method that permits to decipher the monomer sequences (such method is typically called a sequencing technique). For instance, we have demonstrated in the ERC StG project that the information can be easily read by mass spectrometry. Some of these results have been patented and constituted the starting point for the ERC PoC project Sequence Barcodes. It shall be mentioned that the sequence-coded polymers that were discovered during the StG project SEQUENCES were far from being industrially applicable. Therefore, in the frame of the project Sequence Barcodes, we aimed to make this promising technology more suitable for industry. The project Sequence Barcodes was organized in two main axes. The first axis dealt with business and marketing development and was studied by a project manager. The second axis concerns the technical and scientific development and was investigated by a post-doctoral researcher. Both axes were studied simultaneously during the whole duration of the project. In terms of scientific development, the project Sequence Barcodes has evidenced the applicability of our sequence-coded polymers for materials labeling. Indeed, we demonstrated that sequence-coded polymer barcodes can be included in different kind of industrially-relevant materials and that they usually survive processing conditions. We have also verified that, in many cases, the polymer barcodes can be extracted from the host materials and the coded sequences that they contain can be retrieved by sequencing. Consequently, an additional patent was recently submitted. We also studied in this project the possibility to read more easily the messages stored in the polymers using other types of sequencing techniques than mass spectrometry. In terms of business achievements, the results of this project were discussed with several companies. The project is now entering a second pre-industrial development phase, together with some privileged observers from industry. Overall, the polymer barcodes developed in the ERC PoC project are relevant for a wide range of applications in the field of product identification. In particular, they exhibit advantages over natural coded polymers such as DNA that are often used in such technologies. Indeed, they may be easier to synthesize and to sequence. Thus, they will be most probably cheaper to produce. Perhaps more importantly, our chemistry is versatile and can be adapted to a customer need. Among possible applications, these sequence-coded polymers can be used as molecular labels to tag high-value products and therefore to distinguish them from counterfeits. Thus, the project Sequence Barcodes may have an important commercial and societal impact in the future. Indeed, information, security and identification technologies have become increasingly important during the last fifteen years. In particular, coding and marking technologies are crucial in many industrial areas such as pharmaceutical, cosmetics, luxury, food, chemical and automotive industry.
