BlueTools - INNOVATIVE TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE EXPLORATION OF MARINE MICROBIOMINNOVATIVE TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE EXPLORATION OF MARINE MICROBIOMES: TOWARDS A CIRCULAR BLUE BIOECONOMY AND HEALTHIER MARINE ENVIRONMENTS
Lead Participant:
PROZOMIX LIMITED
Abstract
Marine microbiomes represent 90% of the total living marine biomass but only a small fraction of them can be cultivated. For this reason,
they are an underexplored source of bioactive compounds, carbohydrate polymers and proteins, among others. Sampling the marine
biodiversity, screening, identifying and isolating the relevant microbes is cumbersome, expensive and results in a heavy environmental
burden, low yields, high costs and long times to market. Therefore, new approaches are necessary to overcome the limitations for the
study of marine microbial communities and their “econological use”. BLUETOOLS will unravel the potential of marine microbiomes
for healthier oceans and the Blue Bioeconomy through integration of different fields to develop cutting-edge tools that support fast,
efficient AND sustainable exploration and exploitation of microbiomes, avoiding the drawbacks of conventional biodiscovery practices.
The expected results of BLUETOOLS include discovering several hundreds of enzymes, rhodopsins, resistance genes, antimicrobials
and anti-microfouling agents, thanks to a hybrid workflow of in silico and microfluidics-based functional discovery, resulting in the
commercialization =400 enzymes for biocatalysis and =2 new solutions for plastic/polymer degradation, increasing the revenue of our
industrial partners by 10-15%. BLUETOOLS assembles 5 leading European companies, 8 academic teams and 1 private RTO that have
pioneered approaches in functional metagenomics, microfluidics, microbial ecology and synthetic biology. The presence of diverse,
complementary industrial stakeholders in the consortium (from pharma to materials science to sustainability) at different stages in the
research-to-market process (from RTOs to SMEs to large end-users) provides a unique opportunity for broad value creation. The planned
activities will span 48 months and the project is estimated at ca. 9 M€, with 60% of the total dedicated to creating highly-qualified jobs
they are an underexplored source of bioactive compounds, carbohydrate polymers and proteins, among others. Sampling the marine
biodiversity, screening, identifying and isolating the relevant microbes is cumbersome, expensive and results in a heavy environmental
burden, low yields, high costs and long times to market. Therefore, new approaches are necessary to overcome the limitations for the
study of marine microbial communities and their “econological use”. BLUETOOLS will unravel the potential of marine microbiomes
for healthier oceans and the Blue Bioeconomy through integration of different fields to develop cutting-edge tools that support fast,
efficient AND sustainable exploration and exploitation of microbiomes, avoiding the drawbacks of conventional biodiscovery practices.
The expected results of BLUETOOLS include discovering several hundreds of enzymes, rhodopsins, resistance genes, antimicrobials
and anti-microfouling agents, thanks to a hybrid workflow of in silico and microfluidics-based functional discovery, resulting in the
commercialization =400 enzymes for biocatalysis and =2 new solutions for plastic/polymer degradation, increasing the revenue of our
industrial partners by 10-15%. BLUETOOLS assembles 5 leading European companies, 8 academic teams and 1 private RTO that have
pioneered approaches in functional metagenomics, microfluidics, microbial ecology and synthetic biology. The presence of diverse,
complementary industrial stakeholders in the consortium (from pharma to materials science to sustainability) at different stages in the
research-to-market process (from RTOs to SMEs to large end-users) provides a unique opportunity for broad value creation. The planned
activities will span 48 months and the project is estimated at ca. 9 M€, with 60% of the total dedicated to creating highly-qualified jobs
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
|---|---|---|
| PROZOMIX LIMITED | £448,137 | £ 448,137 |
Participant |
||
| INNOVATE UK |
People |
ORCID iD |
| James Finnigan (Project Manager) |