10075112Machine learning accelerated pathway engineering for sustainable Palmitic Acid biomanufactureClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKPalm oil production is reliant on intensive farming which is subject to price volatility and causes biodiversity loss. Global supply issues due to Covid and the war in Ukraine has also caused price inflation for manufacturers. In addition, the global population will grow to 10 billion by 2050, consuming more and more products - palmitic acid and palm oil derivatives are present in ~50% of packaged consumer products. There is an increasing need for a more sustainable and resilient process for palmitic acid production. Bio-based manufacturing through the use of microorganisms offers exciting potential for the production of palmitic acid. However, development of suitable host strains for industrial scale biomanufacturing is slow and expensive. Twig Bio are developing an automated, machine learning approach which will enable precision strain engineering and expedite development through rapid design-build-test cycles. The approach considers strain stabilisation from the outset ensuring strains are scalable and stable under continuous fermentation process conditions for use in industrial manufacturing. In collaboration with the Centre for Process Innovation, the resulting strains will be evaluated for process scale up and commercial viability under process conditions to demonstrate the benefits of the approach in the development of sustainable bio-based manufacturing processes.