Designing a microbial cell factory for chemicals production from sugar and carbon dioxide

Important results from the project

We have successfully achieved the goals that were set from the start of the project. These included work on the design phase of the synthetic biology pipeline for developing a versatile microbial platform, and the visit to Singapore for meetings and discussions with the researchers at the universities for collaboration in the second stage of the project and beyond. We have found several projects of mutual interest involving both synthetic biology and process development.

Expected long term effects

In the longer term, the project and the collaboration with NUS will strengthen the synthetic biology field in Sweden, and result in investment in a biofoundry. The positive effects on research will also spill over into higher education. We expect to build a long-term collaboration with Singapore for developing sustainable synthetic biology based processes for low carbon economy. Development of such processes is likely to lower greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.

Approach and implementation

The project was planned for 3 months and involved the main applicant and a researcher. The work was divided into three work packages (WPs). The first two WPs involved in silico studies and simulations to develop modular constructs for integrating target genes for isopropanol production, and for sequence similarity network design to expand inventory of the required enzymes. The last WP involved the visit to Singapore for meetings with the universities there about the project and collaboration.