Antimicrobial biomaterials from bio-based feedstocks with novel feedstock supplementation strategies

气候危机和公共卫生危机（如COVID-19大流行病）都给我们的社区和经济带来了巨大挑战。为了应对气候崩溃，我们需要迅速减少制造业对化石燃料的依赖，并建立新的脱碳供应链，在不断变化的世界中保持稳健和弹性。2016/2017年，医疗保健相关感染花费了NHS 21亿英镑，造成了大约22,800名住院病人死亡。为了保护公众健康并减轻医疗保健提供者的负担，我们需要新的技术和产品，可以减少携带医疗保健相关感染的微生物病原体的传播，如猩红热，链球菌A和伴随COVID-19等疾病的细菌合并感染。在实现这些功能的同时，新产品还必须能够在不依赖化石燃料的情况下制造。在该项目中，Evolutor正在通过开发具有抗菌性能的先进和高度功能化生物材料的生产工艺来应对这些挑战。我们将使用我们的专业加速进化平台来开发微生物生产宿主，通过精确发酵，可以将废物转化为完全可生物降解和生物相容的生物材料。此外，我们还将测试新的策略和生产工艺，通过在发酵原料中添加一系列天然化合物，赋予这些材料天然的抗菌性能。通过这些项目产出，我们将生产和分析几种小批量的新型生物材料的性能：* 100%天然;* 具有可定制的抗菌功能;* 从废物中生产;* 不需要直接投入化石燃料;* 不需要直接投入化石燃料;* 不需要直接投入化石燃料;* 不需要直接投入化石燃料。* 完全可生物降解且无毒;* 比传统材料产生的化学污染显著减少;* 可针对广泛的应用进行定制。总体而言，该项目的成功将推动英国生物经济的扩张，使我们更接近净零世界，并有助于减少微生物病原体的传播和相关医疗费用的负担。该项目还将加速Evolutor在英格兰北部建造世界领先的生物铸造加拉帕戈斯塔的雄心。在该项目完成后，所实现的创新将使Evolutor能够探索扩大其抗菌生物材料的生产规模，并继续进行原料补充剂的研发，以定制抗菌功能以外的材料特性。例如，性能包括颜色（用于高级服装和建筑材料），香味（用于化妆品和洗涤剂），拉伸强度（用于工业和建筑用途）和渗透性（用于废水处理和污染控制）。

Both the climate crisis and public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic are presenting substantial challenges to our communities and economies.To address the climate collapse, we need to rapidly reduce our manufacturing industries' reliance on fossil fuels and build new decarbonised supply chains that are robust and resilient in an ever-changing world.In 2016/2017 healthcare associated infections cost the NHS £2.1B, and were responsible for approximately 22,800 inpatient deaths. To protect public health and reduce the burden on health care providers, we need new technologies and products that can reduce the spread of microbial pathogens carrying healthcare associated infections such as scarlet fever, strep A and bacterial co-infections that accompany conditions like COVID-19\. As well as fulfilling these functions, new products must also be manufacturable without any reliance on fossil fuels.In this project, Evolutor is addressing these challenges by developing production processes for the manufacture of advanced and highly-functionalized biomaterials with antimicrobial properties. We will use our specialist Accelerated Evolution Platform to develop microbial production hosts that, through precision fermentation, can turn waste products into biomaterials that are fully biodegradable and biocompatible. Additionally, we will test new strategies and manufacturing processes to impart natural antimicrobial properties to these materials by supplementing fermentation feedstocks with a range of natural compounds.Through these project outputs, we will produce and analyse the performance of several small batches of novel biomaterial that:* is 100% natural;* has customizable antimicrobial functionality;* is produced from waste;* requires no direct fossil fuel input;* is completely biodegradable and non-toxic;* produces significantly less chemical pollution than conventional materials; and* can be tailored to a wide range of applications.Overall, the success of this project will drive the expansion of the UK's bioeconomy, bring us closer to a Net Zero world, and help to reduce the spread of microbial pathogens and the burden of associated healthcare costs. It will also accelerate Evolutor's ambition to build its world-leading bio-foundry Galapagos Towers in the North of England.Beyond the completion of this project, the innovations achieved will allow Evolutor to explore scaled-up manufacture of its antimicrobial biomaterials as well as conduct onward R&D of feedstock supplementation to customise material properties beyond antimicrobial functionality. Example properties include colour (for advanced clothing and construction materials), fragrance (for cosmetics and detergents), tensile strength (for industrial and construction use) and permeability (for wastewater treatment and pollution control).