Technology Overview

Currently, day-to-day consumer products such as plastics are produced using petrochemical methods. This technology aims to improve the sustainability of producing chemicals via bacterial engineering. It is a combination of in-silico modelling with in-house strain engineering to optimise the strain development process. By using proprietary computational models, the top candidates for strain engineering are identified before subsequent research and development work can be carried out. This approach shortens trial-and-error experimentation with countless strains which is costly and time-consuming.

The technology is currently developing four proof-of-concept strains to produce chemicals targeted at chemical and ingredient manufacturers within the flavour and fragrance, agrifood, biopharmaceutical, and biomaterial industries. By transitioning to sustainable production methods to produce the necessary chemicals, the environmental impact of manufacturing mass consumer goods and products will decrease substantially.

The company is seeking for co-developers and collaborators who are interested in producing chemical compounds in a sustainable manner.

Technology Features, Specifications and Advantages

The technology utilises a combination of in-silico modelling with in-house strain engineering to optimise the strain development process.

Some characteristics of the technology include:

• Able to create a blueprint of the most optimal production organisms
• Prototype organism can be engineered to include data from the computational model
• Ensures highest possible production and optimisation of the strain upon scale-up

Four proof-of-concept strains are currently under development after being identified with the proprietary computational models. These include:

• Vanilla
• Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs)
• Spider silk
• Terpenes

The bioplastic producing strain currently produces 80% of its mass in bioplastic, after conducting iterations of modelling and strain optimization.

Potential Applications

This technology is applicable in industries that utilises fermentation as a production method. Some industries include (but are not limited to):

• Biomaterials
• Agrifood
• Flavour and fragrance
• Biopharmaceutical

Customer Benefit

• Transition from a petrochemical based method of production of chemical compounds to sustainable, green chemistry methods
• De-risks the microbial cell factory development process, eliminating the need for endless trial-and-error experimentation
• Reduction in time and cost for strain development, leading to faster time to bring products to market