As part of their UKRI Launchpad project for Biomanufacturing in Scotland, NCIMB sought to transition their bench-scale process for producing the enzyme from static flask cultures to a controlled fermentation system suitable for larger-scale enzyme production. To enable this transition, NCIMB subcontracted the fermentation scale-up and enzyme recovery work to the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), leveraging the FlexBIO facility and technical expertise in bioprocess development and downstream processing.

IBioIC funding enabled Ingenza to utilise the bioinformatics experience of Dr Chris Wood, University of Edinburgh to supplement its own knowledge in machine learning, while generating focused DNA libraries that maximised the training value of smaller biological data sets.

Our industrial placement was one of the reasons why Sara Pawlikowska decided to chose the IBioIC MSc course.

Vyshnavi chose this MSc as she wanted to deepen her knowledge of advanced biotechnological processes and gain hands-on experience with industry-relevant technologies.

Rebecca wants to drive practical, research-informed solutions that help industries reduce their environmental impact while continuing to grow responsibly and ethically.

For this case study we meet Kelsey Haugie, who chose our MSc course for the opportunity to develop both lab and commercial skills.

In this case study, Fiona talks about her research in using Biological approaches towards the circular economy of critical metals and her hopes for a career in the sustainable biotechnology space.

Alex is working with Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies on his PhD project to engineer a lactate sensing and controlling system in CHO cells. In this case study, Alex reveals his passion for working at the intersection of academia and industry to drive progress in this area.

The project partners wanted to find out if proven bioresin from agrifood waste processing could be used to build vertical farm towers, potentially reducing the carbon footprint of the towers and enabling innovative design concepts.

Funding from IBioIC’s Feasibility Fund enabled Grampian Growers to work with Professor Giovanna Bermano from Robert Gordon University and Dr Gordon McDougall of The James Hutton Institute to assess the feasibility of valorising potato haulms as feedstocks for ingredients and high value products for global markets.

Sustainable Extricko is developing a closed loop recycling process for petrochemical derived materials like sails, with the goal of integrating end-of-life (EoL) sails into the circular economy.

In this project, they wanted to characterise microbial growth and tolerance to sail recyclates and optimise fermentation conditions to progress this technology towards scale-up and industrial application.

There’s limited knowledge about the potential value of marine growth on decommissioned offshore assets. CessCon Decom wanted to characterise the nutritional composition of the marine growth and assess the feasibility of extracting valuable components.

This project investigated the feasibility of miniaturising and optimising the biological treatment of the wastewater effluents from SEM biofertilizer process.

This project with NuCana and the University of St Andrews aimed to find a way to make cancer treatments safer and more efficient via a new technology to improve the bioanalysis of samples.

Funding from IBioIC’s Feasibility Fund enabled C-Source Renewables and Stephen Wallace from the University of Edinburgh to work together to assess the potential for bread and potato waste generated from food waste to be used as a viable glucose replacement for the bioproduction of three chemicals used to make valuable industrial products which are currently manufactured from diminishing fossil resources.

This project aimed to address two distinct issues; costly waste from salmon fisheries and the toxicity and unsustainability of conventional surfactants, which are produced from synthetic or petrochemical feedstocks.

Innovation funding of £100k from IBioIC enabled NuCana to work with Dr Czekster at St Andrews University on a project to combine organic synthesis and biocatalysis to generate completely novel ProTide compounds with possible activity as anti-viral or anti-cancer agents.

High-performance steels and alloys necessary for modern applications comprise of a plethora of valuable and critical metal resources such as nickel, cobalt, tantalum, niobium, and rhenium, which are currently poorly recycled. SEM wanted to look at potential routes to the recovery of metals which can then be re-used.

Lignin is a material obtained from woody biomass, such as forestry waste suitable for a range of applications. Sonichem wanted to investigate the feasibility of using their natural lignin in the production of advanced, bio-based and sustainable films and resins in packaging and composite manufacturing.

Amelia Webb particularly enjoyed the course held at SAMS where she learnt all about the importance of Blue Biotechnology and hopes to explore this further in her career.