13TSB_SynBio - Rapid Engineering of Cellular Factories

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This is a collaborative R&D project, with the goal of demonstrating the rapid creation of bacterial cellular factories. Over thenext 10-20 years the global chemistry using industry is predicted to undergo a major transformation. Driven by the need todevelop processes that are both economically and environmentally sustainable, the industry will increasingly turn torenewable feedstocks for the manufacture of a growing range of products. It is estimated that by 2020 approximately 20%of existing chemical processes will be based on Industrial Biotechnology (IB), and advanced synthetic biology andbioprocesses.Within this project we intend to combine several novel technologies, including biopumps, riboswitches, and statisticalprocess optimization to create engineered micro-organisms which are able to selectively import small molecules, convertthem via short synthetic pathways, and export the finished molecules on a whole cell basis. This methodology has thepotential to revolutionize biocatalysis and IB, and additionally constrains the technical risk, as the use of biopumps allowsthe optimization of only short synthetic pathways, rather than utilizing an organism's native metabolic pathways from basicfeedstocks. The outputs from this grant will lead to alternative sustainable chemical production process, with the potentialto reduce the reliance on petrochemically derived feedstocks. This research project will also generate technology andknowledge that will help maintain the UK's competitive edge, and will produce highly trained and skilled researchpersonnel.