Synthetic biology for a sustainable industry
Oeiras, 21.12.2018
The will to replace artificial ingredients with ones from sustainable sources has been rising in industry. Companies want to improve consumer satisfaction while driving innovation in the field of flavours and fragrances. However, the natural resources used in these industrial sectors are often limited and climate dependent, leading to increasing prices and price fluctuations. Now, an 8 million Euros grant was attributed by the EU to the ShikiFactory100 project, an international effort coordinated by biotech SME SilicoLife with scientific coordination by Isabel Rocha ITQB Universidade Nova de Lisboa, to produce high value compounds using biological processes.
Combining the latest advances on synthetic biology, systems biology and rapid prototyping, ShikiFactory100 seeks the rapid and cost-effective development of biological routes for the production of 100 compounds with applications in food, pharmaceutical and other industries. Resource-efficient and cost-effective microbial processes will be developed for the production of novel compounds or compounds that are currently only produced by petrochemical processes or limited to plant extraction.
The ShikiFactory100 Horizon2020 project gathers 11 partners from 7 countries: SilicoLife (Portugal), ITQB NOVA and Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), Technical University of Denmark, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Germany), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), University of Manchester (UK), University of Minho (Portugal), c-LEcta (Germany), Galchimia (Spain), the National Non-Food Crops Centre (UK), and DSM (the Netherlands).
In the news
Empresa portuguesa lidera projeto de 8ME para "alavancar biologia sintética da UE", Diário de Notícias, 20.12.2018
Empresa portuguesa lidera projeto de 8ME para "alavancar biologia sintética da UE", TSF, 20.12.2018
Empresa portuguesa lidera projeto de 8 milhões de euros para “alavancar biologia sintética da UE”, Sapo 24, 20.12.2018
Startup portuguesa SilicoLife lidera projeto europeu em biologia sintética, TV Europa, 20.12.2018
Empresa nascida na UMinho lidera projeto de 8 milhões para “alavancar biologia sintética da UE”, O Minho, 20.12.2018
Startup de Braga vai liderar projeto de 8 milhões de euros para investir em compostos biológicos, Semanário V, 20.12.2018
Portuguesa SilicoLife lidera projeto para impulsionar a biologia sintética na UE, ComUM online, 27.12.2018
Empresa portuguesa lidera projeto para "alavancar biologia sintética da UE", Diário do Faial, 27.12.2018
