10146046Bioprocess development for sustainable production of mycosporinesClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKTraditional sunscreen formulations are highly effective for the prevention of skin cancer (the 5th most common cancer in the UK). However, the UV protective active ingredients used in their formulations have a number of health and environmental issues. Some sunscreen actives can absorb into the skin, leading to hormone disruption and skin sensitivity issues. Some form a white cast on the skin and cause skin dryness and discomfort. Sunscreen actives also cause significant damage to marine and aquatic environments, where they build up in species resulting in endocrine disruption and the bleaching of corals. There is a need for alternative ingredients for safe and effective sunscreen formulations. Mycosporines and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) are UV absorbing molecules found mostly in marine organisms and present a non-toxic bioalternative to traditional sunscreen actives. However, current MAA extraction methods are laborious, expensive and damaging to marine biodiversity, severely limiting their use in mainstream applications. Bio-based manufacturing using microorganisms offers a sustainable alternative to environmentally detrimental extraction as well as capital-intensive chemical manufacturing. However, the development of suitable host strains required for industrial scale biomanufacturing is often slow and expensive. Twig Bio are pioneering the development of a lab automation platform with machine learning to expedite the R&D process for strain development. This relies on increased automation using data driven insights applied to the strain development process, enabling the rapid development of highly productive commercially viable strains. In this Innovate UK funded project, Twig Bio's approach will be applied to develop strains for biomanufacturing production of MAAs for use in sunscreens. Twig Bio will collaborate with experts from the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) to develop and scale-up for commercial scale biomanufacturer of MAAs as high-performance sustainable suncare active ingredients.