Novel extremophilic metalloprotease for consumer product application

This PhD project will identify and characterise novel protease enzymes from extremophiles for use in processes and products of interest to the industrial collaborator Unilever. The student will have the opportunity to work with the Edinburgh Genome Foundry a state of the art synthetic biology facility that has the exciting capability to design, synthesize and assemble synthetic DNA, opening up new opportunities for enzyme engineering. There are now a phenomenal number of microbial genome sequences available to the research community. This is an incredible resource and coupled with the lower cost of DNA synthesis provides huge opportunities to access biological diversity and obtain novel enzymes for a range of applications. The project will utilise state-of-the-art bioinformatics, high-throughput screening technology, and combine it with advanced biological and bioprocess techniques. The student will also have the opportunity of close interactions with Unilever and as part of their student cohort will take part in Unilever student training programmes, workshops and networking.