SBIR Phase II: Production of an Acyl Glycinate Surfactant by Fermentation

这个小型企业创新研究二期项目旨在优化生物表面活性剂的生产，为该产品的商业推出做准备。在第一阶段，该公司开发了一种合成表面活性剂的工程微生物，并且一个关键客户确认了表面活性剂样品的身份和纯度。在第二阶段，将使用合成生物学方法来提高微生物生产表面活性剂的效率。此外，纯化表面活性剂的多个样品将被运送给客户进行评估。客户反馈将确定任何需要修改的产品特性，并将导致详细的产品规格的制定，其中将包括诸如：纯度，颜色，成分和分子量的可接受变化等指标。该二期项目的目标是优化表面活性剂的特性和微生物生产效率，使表面活性剂能够在消费产品配方中生产和销售。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，它应该使公司能够证明合成生物学方法可以用来提高生物表面活性剂的生产效率，从而使表面活性剂可以作为商业产品销售。在实现这一目标的过程中，该公司应该能够吸引合作伙伴，例如一家大型化学公司，他们将同意合作将生物表面活性剂商业化。如果生物表面活性剂能够生产并销售盈利，该公司将为未来的研究和开发提供资金，旨在推出更多的生物表面活性剂。对社会的好处是，使用这种技术生产的化学品将使用国内生产的可再生原材料，而不会与食品竞争。此外，由于发酵反应是在接近环境温度的情况下进行的，因此生产这些化学物质所需的能量很低。由于不使用有毒溶剂，而且表面活性剂是可生物降解的，不会增加温室气体的积累，这些化学物质本身就比传统化学物质更安全。这些生物表面活性剂最初将用于个人护理产品，如沐浴露和洗发水。然而，表面活性剂市场庞大而多样，为生物表面活性剂在各种产品中的应用创造了机会，如洗衣粉、油漆和涂料，以及采矿业中用于净化有价值矿物的浮选剂。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is aimed at optimizing production of a bio-surfactant in preparation for commercial launch of the product. During Phase I, the company developed an engineered microorganism that synthesizes the surfactant, and a key customer confirmed the identity and purity of a sample of the surfactant. During Phase II, synthetic biology methods will be used to increase the efficiency of the microorganism producing the surfactant. In addition, multiple samples of purified surfactant will be shipped to customers for evaluation. Customer feedback will identify any product features that require modification and will result in development of a detailed product specification, which will include metrics such as: purity, color, acceptable variation in composition and molecular weight, etc. The objectives of this Phase II project are to optimize surfactant characteristics and microbial production efficiency so that the surfactant can be profitably manufactured and sold for use in consumer products formulations. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that it should enable the company to demonstrate that synthetic biology methods can be used to increase the efficiency of production of a bio-surfactant so the surfactant can be sold as a commercial product. Progress toward that goal should enable the company to attract a partner, for example a large chemical company, who will agree to collaborate on commercialization of the bio-surfactant. If the bio-surfactant can be made and sold profitably, the company will be positioned to fund future research and development aimed at commercial launch of additional bio-surfactants. Benefits to society are that chemicals produced using this technology will be manufactured using domestically grown renewable raw materials, which do not compete with food. Furthermore, the energy required to produce these chemicals is low since the fermentation reaction is performed near ambient temperature. The chemicals are inherently safer than traditional chemicals because toxic solvents are not used, and the surfactants are biodegradable and do not contribute to increased greenhouse gas accumulation. These bio-surfactants will initially be used in personal care products, such as body washes and shampoos. However, the surfactant market is large and diverse, creating an opportunity for use of bio-surfactants in products as varied as laundry detergent, paints and coatings, and floatation-agents used in the mining industry to purify valuable minerals.