High-performance yeast for sustainable liquid fuel

Carbon utilisation in bioethanol production by the yeast _Saccharomyces_ _cerevisiae_ suffers significant efficiency losses because the organism also produces glycerol as a (waste) co-product to help maintain its osmotic balance. This low value waste product compromises bioethanol yield by up to 5%. Others have tried to address this problem, employing yeast bioengineering to reduce glycerol production and redirect more feedstock carbon instead to ethanol. The approach has achieved partial success, increasing carbon efficiency and maintaining cellular reduction-oxidation (REDOX) balance. The limitation of earlier approaches is that the intermediates of the engineered metabolic pathway to ethanol can be converted to other cellular metabolites, such that the full carbon redirection benefits cannot be realised. Our innovative approach provides key advantages over that of our competitors. It will similarly reduce glycerol synthesis but instead redirects carbon to ethanol via an alternate intermediate which is not otherwise metabolised, thereby potentiating maximal carbon use efficiency and ethanol productivity gains.

Ingenza has conducted yeast bioengineering for over 10 years, developing all necessary expertise, enabling technology tools and capabilities to deliver this project. Our go-to-market strategy involves the commercialisation of project outputs under an existing technology license relationship with a major international partner. We will safeguard our project outcomes through patent protection and the partner's policing. The potential return on project investment represents significant value for both Ingenza and UK taxpayers. The global bioethanol market is dynamic with (until recently) 5.3% CAGR (2014-2019) and usage in 2019 of 29 million gallons globally. While we recognise that there are alternative opportunities for the technology in many markets (e.g. beverage alcohol) the bioethanol market alone is expected to be valued at $79.6 billion by 2024\. Successful deployment of the project technology could secure significant returns for Ingenza, underpinning job protection and investment in future growth initiatives. The project will allow a leading UK developer of industrial biotechnology to aggressively participate in a synergistic commercial collaboration to deliver disruptive technology that expands the use of sustainable liquid fuels and advances the UK bioeconomy more broadly, to positively impact climate change and environmental sustainability.