Biomanufacturing and digital twins
The growth of the circular bioeconomy, or the commercial and industrial application of sustainable bio-based products and services, has long been an ambition for many governments, public and private stakeholders. The benefits of that economic system are manifold, especially for energy use reduction, increased innovation and sustainability.
Transitioning towards a system of production firmly rooted in biotechnological innovation, and away from traditional petroleum-based manufacturing practices, is dependent on the enabling research from fields such as synthetic biology, information technology, and industrial biotechnology.
Our mission & Strategy
We explore, develop and implement pioneering technologies that support bio-based production. We work across the full spectrum of biomanufacturing: from bioplastics to pharmaceuticals, and use digital twins to help us design and optimise these processes. These digital twins combine historical data with real-time process information to model and predict future performance. Our mission is to deliver excellent multidisciplinary research and education that advance both biomanufacturing and the use of digital twins.
Strategy
We specialize in applying microbial systems, advanced bioengineering and modelling technologies to real-world challenges. We approach the field of biomanufacturing in a holistic manner, considering the optimization of the bioconversion process from different viewpoints including the microbial platform, the conditions within and their remote control, the biotransformation itself, and the implications beyond.
Research topics
- Developing genome engineering tools and strategies
- Increasing the robustness, performance and metabolic versatility of industrial microbial chassis
- Generating sustainable and safe-by-design products from alternative feedstocks and valorizable wastes
- Developing biosensing and modelling technologies for real-time data acquisition, processing and gathering actionable knowledge for the bioprocess
Expertise, techniques and infrastructure
- Synthetic biology: CRISPR technologies, oligonucleotide-mediated recombineering, genetic circuits, biosensors, combinatorial DNA assembly and genome engineering, high-throughput screening
- Metabolic engineering: new-to-nature metabolic configurations (e.g., C1-metabolism), growth-coupled scenarios, adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), lifestyle engineering
- Bioproduction: using Pseudomonas putida as our main microbial chassis, but with research projects on Escherichia coli, Rhodobacter sphaeroides, Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosus, Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae
- Metabolic modelling: model-driven design, Flux Balance Analysis (FBA)
- Digital Twins: DBTL, Design & Learn (DoE, ML), robotics, micro-fluidics, HTP Digital Twin technologies, semantic technologies
- Safety-and-Sustainability-by-Design: biosafety, valorisation, multi-stakeholder engagement
- Infrastructure: BIOTECH.NL, UNLOCK (Microbial communities), IBISBA (Industrial biotech & SynBio), ELIXIR & Data Science (Data, models, semantics)
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Research themes
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