A Green Synthesis of Docosanoic Acid using Thraustochytrids and Biocompatible Chemistry

This highly multidisciplinary project will combine small molecule production in marine algae with a biocompatible non-enzymatic reaction to access small molecules of importance to the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. This unique approach will apply chemical catalysis in this living organism for the first time, redirect its metabolism and enable access to a class of compounds that cannot be achieved using synthetic biology alone.
As such, this project offers a unique training environment to gain experience in a broad range of chemical and biological laboratory techniques: including synthetic biology, chemical synthesis, microbiology (especially focussed on optimising the growth of various algae) and the analysis of microbial metabolites produced from these experiments using analytical techniques such as HPLC, GC-MS and NMR