Bionexgen, a three-year programme to develop a new generation of biocatalysts for use in industrial-scale synthesis of chemicals, is to be led by Nick Turner, Director of the Centre of Excellence for Biocatalysis, Biotransformations and Biocatalytic Manufacture (CoEBio3) at Manchester University.
The collaboration, involving leading European industrial and academic partners aims to replace chemical catalysts with sustainable biocatalysts, reducing the cost and the environmental impact of synthesising a range of chemicals, including pharmaceuticals and polymers.
The interdisciplinary project will bring together microbiologists, enzymologists, chemists, engineers and process development scientists, to enable industry to develop and commercialise these new processes. The consortium consists of university research groups, small and medium sized companies, and the chemicals company BASF.
Turner said the research was devised with the close involvement of the industrial partners. “This is a great strength of the programme and will ensure real-world application of the green chemical processes developed.”
Other university partners include the University of Stuttgart, Denmark Technical University, the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the University of Groningen, the University of Oviedo, the Leibniz Institute for Plant Biochemistry and the Austrian Centre for Industrial Biotechnology.
A summary of the project can be found at http://bionexgen-fp7.eu
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